


Waters over the Blood

by StereoChromatic



Category: James Bond (Movies), Peanuts
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Guns, Minor Character Death, Moderate Violence, Mystery, mild swearing, will add characters as they appear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-01-05 06:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 40,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18360908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StereoChromatic/pseuds/StereoChromatic
Summary: When a terrible crime hits Birchwood, Sally Brown is drawn into a deep network of secrets and spying, where she will have to work with friends old and new in order to stop a megalomanic businessman from putting the world in peril.





	1. Prologue: The Insider

Sometime in January 2016, in the back room of a high tech facility, a shadowy suited man laughed with a subdued tone as the United States of America launched a surveillance satellite into space. This shadowy man had built the satellite, and was very pleased with the results. With a grin on his face, he turned to face his employees. 

“Thanks to all of you, Stage One of our Executive Global Outreach plan has been a success, and now it is time to begin Stage Two.”

In the corner of the room, a lone male stood alone, with a phone to his ear. 

“Any updates, Enrico?”

“Not yet. But he’s going to say something. Put me on speakerphone.”

“Si.”

The shadowy man continued to speak. 

“Stage Two of our plan, as I may have said before, is to acquire the Ultra LASER from a secret vault, hidden underneath the streets of Budapest. To get that we require a special key, a marble, known as the King’s Shooter. Our latest intel tells me that the marble was last officially seen by Spanish airport security at the arrivals area.

“Are you getting this?” Enrico asked.

“Seems far-fetched to me?” came the voice on the other end of the phone.

“He has pictures.”

“Can you get them to us?”

“I’ll try.” Enrico said before hanging up. He waited until all of the co-workers had gone before accessing the computer from which the boss had explained his plan. Having accessed the relevant files, he attached them onto an email and sent them to his friends on the other end via a private email server. Having sent the files, he started to shut down the computer. Just as he was about to finish shutting down, he was interrupted by the shadowy figure, who had returned. 

“Didn’t expect to see you here.” The shadowy man said.

“Yeah, I was just…”

“You’re standing at my computer. You’ve taken some sensitive files. I’m not as blind as you think I am. Sit down.” Enrico slowly sunk into the seat.

“Given that the computer is off, I assume you’ve already sent them off, you dirty rat.” He snarled, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck. “My business plan relies on my employees unwavering loyalty, and if they are not, then they are going to have some problems. Have I made myself clear?” he said menacingly.

“Yes sir. I won't fail you again sir.” Enrico whimpered. The boss stepped away from him, drawing a gun from his left pocket.

“No, you won’t.” *Bang*, *Bang*. Enrico thudded to the floor.

 

Over the ensuing couple of months, some people became displeased about the surveillance powers the new satellite would bring, so they protested, which occupied police time and reduced their coverage of the area, which allowed a few people to bend the rules. In the town of Birchwood, not much had changed. The kids found that there was more things to do. Charlie Brown, for instance, had stumbled upon a small, broken motorbike, which he eventually fixed, and now owns. 

In her spare time, Sally Brown had found a tan brown longcoat, so she chose to moonlight as an ace detective, solving “crimes” after school and during weekends. These were always trivial things, like finding a lost watch, or solving crosswords. A few days ago (22nd March 2016) she had visited the Van Pelt siblings at their house. Lucy as usual had been outside, running her psychiatrist stand. Thanks to the current political state of affairs, Lucy had more clients than she ever used to. Unlike when she used to torment Charlie Brown, Lucy actually tried to give good advice to most of her clients, not that it made any difference. Sally and Lucy were both walking to the front door, when their paths crossed.

“Hi Lucy, how’s things?”

“Pretty good, Sally. Nothing more interesting than usual. Any new cases to solve?”

“Nothing interesting, either.” Sally replied. “Some kid dropped their pencil on the sidewalk. It took me 5 minutes to find it.”

“Still, at least it beats school.” Lucy replied. “So, what are you doing today?”

“Visiting Linus.” Sally replied.

“Of course you would. You love him to pieces, don’t you?” Lucy replied, smiling.

“Naturally.” Sally said, walking up to the door. She knocked on the door loudly. Linus and Rerun were inside, watching TV. Linus heard the door knocking, so he got up from his beanbag and walked up to the door, his blanket clutched in his left hand. Linus opened the door, where he saw Sally and Lucy were waiting.

“Hi Linus.” Sally said endearingly.

“Good evening, Sally. Hi, Lucy.” Linus replied, blankly. Linus was of course aware of Sally’s long established affection towards him, but he chose to ignore it. “Would you like to come in?” He asked them, politely holding the door open. They walked inside.

“What have you been doing today?” Sally asked him.

“Going to School, doing homework, watching TV, the usual.” Replied Linus.

“And I’ve been at Kindergarten.” Said Rerun, sounding bored.

“And I suppose it’s as boring as ever.” Lucy said, with a hint of sarcasm. 

“Of course it is.” Rerun agreed. “What else would I be grumpy about?”

“Not having a dog.” Lucy pointed out.

“Let’s not have an argument over nothing.” Linus said calmly. “Mom will be home soon, and boy would she be cross when she saw you two bickering.”

“You would be the perfect diplomat, Linus.” Sally said. 

“Don’t you start.” Linus said back, rejecting her compliment.

“I’m only being nice.” Sally replied back. “Although if you don’t want my praise then I shall be taking it elsewhere. Oh, and Rerun, if come to my house on Saturday, there are a bunch of case files that I need a second opinion on, if that interests you.” Sally walked away from the siblings and out of the door, closing it firmly.

“I’ll think about it.” Said Rerun quietly afterward. No one said anything in response. The silence was interrupted by the jangling of keys in the front door.

“That’ll be Mom.” Lucy said dismissively. The door opened, and Mrs Van Pelt walked in.

“Enjoying yourselves?” she asked.

“Yes Mom.” Linus replied. “We’re doing fine.”

“Homework all done?” She asked.

“Yes Mom.” The three of them said in unison. The three of them continued watching TV for the next hour. In that time Mrs Van Pelt had begun cooking dinner, and Mr Van Pelt had returned home and greeted the kids. Dinner didn’t start until 6:30pm, and by that time, all of the children were sitting at the table, and Mr Van Pelt had changed out of his suit into a red checked shirt and blue jeans. Mrs Van Pelt had just finished cooking 5 jacket potatoes, and she had just put each of them on everyone’s plates. They all sat down and began to eat their food. Lucy was the first to bring up any sort of conversation. 

“Next week’s going to be fun.” She said.

“You mean the field trip?” Linus asked in reply.

“Yes, that field trip.” Lucy replied.

“Tell us more about this field trip, Lucy.” Mr Van Pelt said. “I know we’ve all been talking about it since January, but your mother and I don’t know anything about it, apart from that it’s in Budapest.”

“So, it lasts for a week.” Lucy began. “On Tuesday we leave from the airport early, arriving in Budapest late in the evening.”

“On Wednesday we go to the Art Gallery.” Linus said, continuing on from Lucy.

“What about Thursday?” Mrs Van Pelt asked. 

“On Thursday, we’re going to a concert, I think.” Linus said. “I can’t remember what we’re doing on the other days.”

“All we do know is that it’s going to be fun.” Lucy said.

They continued eating. Meanwhile over at Charlie Brown and Sally’s house, Sally and Charlie Brown had already eaten. Charlie Brown had already gone to bed, and Sally was summing up the cases she had solved that day in a notebook.

“22nd March, Today’s cases: Dropped pencil on James Street. Status: Pencil found and returned to client.” She wrote. After documenting these unimportant events, she went to bed too.


	2. Apprentice Detective Rerun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally teaches Rerun some things about being an 'Ace Detective'. Charlie Brown gets ready to play Baseball.

Saturday 26th March

Sally was already up by 8:00am, eating breakfast with her brother downstairs. They were both having cold cereal, though Sally had also elected to have a piece of buttered toast along with her cereal. At the table, Sally began to speak.

“What’s on today?” she asked.

“We have a baseball game today.” Charlie Brown replied. “Are you going to watch?” 

“If I’m free.” Sally replied. “I’m anticipating a case will fall at my desk.” 

“Like it always does.” Charlie Brown said, with a hint of sarcasm. “Some case it will be, too.”

“That sarcasm is going to come back to bite you someday.” Sally warned, before she walked off.

“You didn’t eat your crusts!” Charlie Brown said.

“Woodstock can have them.” Sally replied.

“I’m sure… he’ll appreciate it.” Charlie Brown said, much more softly.

Whilst Charlie Brown was feeding Woodstock, Sally had put on her longcoat and sat down in her office (a desk next to her room, with a telephone, in yellow). It was not too long (11am) before a knock on the door was heard. Charlie Brown opened the door.

“Hello, Charlie Brown.” 

“Good Morning, Rerun. What brings you here?” 

“I want to talk to Sally.” Rerun said. Charlie Brown, not knowing what to say next, simply held the door open for him. Rerun proceeded upstairs and walked into Sally’s office.  
“Rerun, reporting for duty, ma’am.” He called out. Sally turned around on her chair.

“Great! You accepted my request!” Sally said enthusiastically.

“It’s not a difficult decision. I get bored easily.” Rerun replied.

“I know.” Sally replied. “But I haven’t had anything like an exciting case yet.” 

“Oh, that’s a shame.” Rerun said, his smile reduced to a light frown.

“Maybe you could take inspiration from some of my case files.” Sally responded. She then went to fetch a selection of files from a shelf in her room.

“Here’s one I had a few weeks ago.” She said to him, handing him a piece of paper.

“What happened?” Asked Rerun.

“Well,” Sally began. “It was about a month ago. I was working in my office in the late morning when I heard a knock on the door. I opened it to see Floyd standing there.” 

“Who’s Floyd?” Rerun asked.

“Floyd’s from the other neighbourhood. He has a crush on Marcie, which she hates him for.” Sally continued. “He said he heard some commotion going on at the park. I followed him out of the house and to the park. It was of no surprise to me that Thibault was there, harassing a little girl. I walked over to him, asking what the commotion was about. He responded by spouting about what he thought a woman’s place was, instead of playing so called ‘boy’ sports. Needless to say, I was very offended, and the girl he had been harassing was in tears. I countered him by telling him that Floyd had reported him to me and reminding him of everyone’s equal rights.” 

“What happened next?” Asked Rerun.

“Well,” Sally began again. “So I said that, and then he said…

‘You wanna fight?’ in his gruff and bigoted tone. I responded by punching him in the face, and then when he tried to rush towards me, I used a foot sweep on him (it’s a Judo move). As I left him to reconsider his actions, I went over to the little girl to console her. She told me her name was Sophie, and that she was playing soccer on her own when Thibault showed up. I told her I dealt with him, pointing at him on the ground, in considerable pain, but not majorly injured in any way. I recommended to her that she should bring a friend or two in case Thibault showed up again. After that I went home.” Sally said, finishing her story. 

“That was exciting.” Rerun said approvingly. “Though I’m not sure I could handle someone in a fight.”

“Maybe I could teach you some skills for today.” Sally said. “That way you’d be able to defend yourself. It’s not for attacking, though.” She advised.

“Understood.” Rerun noted. “Maybe later, I’d like to know more about the job.”

“What’s your question?” Asked Sally.

“How did you get the nice coat?” Rerun asked.

“I got it as a Christmas present, from Mom.” Sally replied. “But I think you’d look better in a Tweed suit and a matching fedora.” Sally said to him.

“Like a Noire Cop?” Rerun asked.

“Yes, like that.” Sally confirmed.

“Cool. I wonder where I could find one.” Rerun said to himself.

“Maybe you could ask for one on your birthday.” Sally suggested.

“That’s still two months away.” Rerun said. 

“Enough time to learn how to be a detective, then.” Sally said.

“Starting Now.” Requested Rerun. They went downstairs to the dining room table to discuss more comfortably. Rerun sat down at one end whilst Sally sat opposite.  
“First off.” Sally began. “Being a detective requires skill and intuition. This means making decisions based on good instinct and thorough analysis, and on the fly.”

“Do I have good instincts?” Rerun asked.

“We can test that.” Sally said.

“How?” asked Rerun.

“Well, you can ask me a few questions. Every so often I will lie.” Sally said. “You’ll have to judge whether I’m telling the truth or not.”

“Okay, let’s begin.” Said Rerun with some mild enthusiasm.

“First question. Your name.” he began.

“Sally Brown.”

“Home State?”

“Minnesota.”

“Any love interests?”

“No.”

“That’s a lie.” Rerun said.

“How so?” Said Sally, knowing he was correct, but keen to see Rerun’s ability.

“It is no secret to anyone that you refer to Linus as your ‘Sweet Babboo’.”

“And?”

“Usage of terms of endearment are well known indicators of romance.”

“That’s true. I confess. You did well, Rerun.” Sally said. “But real suspects don’t lie as obviously as I did, or concede the truth so easily. So keep practising.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Rerun said. He looked up at the clock.

“It’s only noon, what should we do next?” Rerun asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s going to be lunch soon. You’d best go on home.” Sally said.

“See you soon.” Said Rerun, getting up out of his chair. He exited out of the front door. Charlie Brown walked into the dining room from upstairs. He saw that Sally was sitting there already. 

“So how has your day been, so far?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Well, first I did all my homework.” Sally began. “Then I went to sit in my office, then Rerun arrived, offering to be my deputy, and then we talked about detective work.”

“You like your detective work, don’t you?” Charlie Brown said.

“Yes. Of course I do.” Sally replied.

“I don’t think Rerun should be a detective.” Charlie Brown said. “I want him to have a fun life, playing, like we used to do, instead of being all serious.”

“I see your point.” Sally conceded. “But it’s still his decision. So what have you been doing?”

“Well, I’ve been fixing my motorcycle.” Charlie Brown replied.

“Do you know what kind of bike it is yet?”

“It looks like a Harley-Davidson.” Charlie Brown replied. “Then after that I went to Linus’ house to talk about the Hungary trip. Then I gave Snoopy a mid-morning snack, and after that I did some sketching.” 

“Sketching?” Sally asked.

“Yes, sketching. I was drawing a picture of the back garden. It’s peaceful, and it passed the time.”

“When’s the baseball game?” Sally asked.

“1:30 at the latest.” Charlie Brown replied. “But our team will arrive at 1:00.”

“What’s for Lunch?” asked Sally.

“Whatever we can find.” Charlie Brown replied. “Dad’s at work and Mom’s at a PTA meeting, so we’ll have to feed ourselves. Which reminds me, I have to feed my dog.” Charlie Brown got up to fix Snoopy’s lunch, whilst Sally began to set the table, setting down plates, knives, spoons, glasses, bread, butter, and lemonade, among other things. She sat down at the table and waited for Charlie Brown to come back.

When Charlie Brown returned, he took some bread and put it in the toaster. A minute later, the toast popped, and Charlie Brown then buttered his toast and sat down to eat it. Sally was helping herself to a ham and cheese sandwich.

“Big brother, what’s the field trip about?” Sally asked.

“Well,” Charlie Brown began. “It’s mostly about Art and Music, and I think the teachers just wanted to go somewhere.” 

“At least it’ll be interesting.” Sally replied. “Our last field trip was in a farmer’s field, in the middle of winter.”

“In Hungary it’ll be just as cold.” Charlie Brown responded.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t put myself forward then, isn’t it? Sally said jokingly. They continued eating their meal. Once they had finished their sandwiches, and had some crisps, they cleared the table and went their separate ways. Charlie Brown went to get his baseball glove and cap, and Sally went back to her office. Sally looked around and checked that nothing was out of place, before she left again. She placed a sign on her desk which read. “The detective is [Out]. The detective is at [Baseball Game].”


	3. The Baseball Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Peanuts Gang play baseball. Sally and Rerun watch from the sidelines.

When she left the house, it was 12:55, her brother had already left five minutes earlier. After a short and uneventful walk, she arrived at the baseball field. All of the home team were on the pitch practising. Rerun was sitting on a bench not very far away. She sat down on the seat next to him.

“Hi Sally.” Rerun said. “How are you?”

“I’m fine.” Sally replied. “Did you find anything exciting to do?”

“I watched some TV, and then I played Pool with my sister.” Rerun answered.

“Who won?” Sally asked.

“Lucy did. I can barely see over the table.” Rerun said. “And she gets to play baseball.”

“I don’t think she enjoys it.” Sally replied. “She hates baseball.”

“Maybe I could transfer.” Rerun suggested to himself. “I’ll be older soon.”

“Too late for this game, though.” Sally said to him. “Who’s playing?”

“Peppermint Patty’s team.” Rerun replied.

“Odds on us winning?” Sally asked.

“A billion to one.” Rerun replied.

“That’s rather optimistic.” Sally commented. “We’re bound to lose so long as the other team shows up.”

“Speaking of…” Rerun said, as he pointed towards the entrance of the field. Peppermint Patty’s Team was quite formidable. Leading the group was Peppermint Patty followed by Marcie, Franklin, Jose Peterson, Thibault, Roy, Floyd, Charlotte Braun, and Marcie’s cousin Maynard. “Here they are.” Rerun said.

“We’re doomed.” Sally said.

“And there isn’t even a cloud in the sky.” Rerun added. 

“Oh well, the games about to start.” Sally said. Charlie Brown’s team were lined up on the bench. Charlie Brown got up to bat. Peppermint Patty pitched a fastball straight at him. Charlie Brown swung at it. He missed, and the ball flew straight into Franklin’s gloved hand. “Strike One!” shouted the umpire (Five was umpire for today). Charlie Brown proceeded to miss the next two pitches, meaning he was out for this inning. Pig-pen hen stepped up to bat. Peppermint Patty threw a curveball, but Pig-pen hit it deep into the outfield. He managed to get to third base before the ball was back in the pitcher’s hand. Lucy stood up to bat next. She hit the ball, straight at first base. Roy caught it easily. 

“That’s our second out already.” Sally moaned.

Schroeder was up next up. He hit a bunt on his second strike and arrived at first base. Pig-pen made it back to home, scoring the team’s first run. Frieda batted next. Like Charlie Brown, she also missed the ball three times, so Charlie Brown’s team took their turn to field. 

“Well, we scored one run.” Rerun said with false optimism.

Peppermint Patty took her turn to bat. Charlie Brown threw the ball straight at her, and she whacked it past the outfield.

“That one flew over our heads.” Sally commented.

Peppermint Patty scored a home run with that hit. Marcie then stood up to bat. She hit the ball, but unexpectedly, it landed in Charlie Brown’s glove. Marcie was out. Roy batted next, hitting a double. Jose Peterson then hit a home run, and Thibault bunted a single. Maynard struck out before Franklin added another single. Floyd missed the ball entirely and struck out, which ended the first inning at a score of 3-1 to Peppermint Patty’s team. The game continued for over a couple of hours, and by the 9th inning, it was 4 o’clock and the score was 17-4 to Peppermint Patty’s team.

“We’re playing better than I expected”. Sally said to Rerun.

“We’re usually at least 50 behind by now.” Rerun replied in agreement.

Charlie Brown got up to bat first. Once again Peppermint Patty pitched hard and fast. Charlie Brown hit a bunt and ran to first, since he reckoned he didn’t want to risk getting struck out early. Pig-pen hit the ball for a double, and Charlie Brown, choosing to be sensible, chose not to try and steal home. Lucy managed to strike out for the eighth time in a row. Schroeder then hit the ball far into the outfield on his final strike, running all the way to home. Charlie Brown’s team had pegged the score back to 17-7 with one out. Charlie Brown signalled for Frieda to bunt, and duly, she did so, she managed to run to first base. Shermy followed that up with another single. Patty shot a fly ball high in the air and ran like the wind. The ball soared straight towards Marcie’s glove. Marcie failed to catch the ball, because she wasn’t paying due attention to the game. She was busy trying to solve a complicated maths puzzle in her head. This allowed Patty to score a home run.

“Nice.” Rerun remarked. “We’re only 7 runs behind now!”

Linus and Snoopy then both hit doubles. The score was 17-11. Charlie Brown went up to bat again. Peppermint Patty threw a fastball at him. He swung and hit it. It stopped just past the infield. Charlie Brown thought he could muster a double, and ran as fast as he could. But Thibault got the ball quickly, and Charlie Brown was run out. Snoopy managed to get to third, though.

“Shame.” Sally said. “And to that ratty misogynist, too.” She complained.

“Oh, so that’s Thibault.” Rerun responded, pointing at the kid with the mullet and sideburns.

Pig-pen was next up to bat. He hit a single, allowing Snoopy to score. Schroeder then added to that with a double. Frieda then bunted again for another single, meaning Pigpen scored another run for the team. Shermy then whacked the ball into the outfield, scoring a triple. With the score at 17-15, the ball fell to Patty, who bunted it and ran to first. Linus then knocked the ball far past the outfield, scoring a home run. The score was now tied at 17-17. Snoopy and Pigpen both scored doubles to take the lead. Schroeder then went up to bat. Schroeder scored a triple to take the score to 19- 17 to Charlie Brown’s team. Frieda then hit a fly ball, which Jose Peterson caught easily. This left Peppermint Patty’s team needing just 3 runs to win. 

“We’re actually in the lead.” Rerun said.

“I don’t expect that to last long.” Sally replied.

Peppermint Patty stepped up to bat. Charlie Brown pitched her a fastball, which she sent flying towards Sally and Rerun.

“That ball is heading towards us.” Rerun said. 

“Duck, Rerun!” Sally yelled. The ball shot over very close to their heads.

“That was close.” Rerun said.

“Sorry about that!” Peppermint Patty shouted as she ran past second base. 

“Much appreciated!” Sally shouted back.

Peppermint Patty continued until she made it to home. Marcie then bunted it for a single. Jose Peterson then sent it soaring over the field, scoring a home run. And it was all over. Peppermint Patty’s team had won 20-19.

“Well, that’s a shame.” Rerun mused.

“Let’s console them.” Sally replied “They must be feeling crushed.” She said with sympathy.

She walked over to Charlie Brown, who was sitting on the Pitcher’s mound.

“It’s okay, Big Brother. This was a close game.”

“I know, it’s what makes it more heart-breaking.” Charlie Brown replied. “I could have been the hero, but I’m always the goat.”

“There’s another meaning to goat.” Sally said to him. If you get up and take me home, I’ll tell you.

Charlie Brown hung on her every word. He got up off of the mound and went home. Sally followed on after him. Rerun got off the bench as Linus was walking by, congratulating him on his brave performance. Lucy looked no different to when she started the game.

Charlie Brown walked in through the front door, dragging his baseball bat in behind him. Sally went in after him, before leading him to the dining table.

“So, Sally, what does being the goat mean?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Well, Charlie Brown, to be the goat means to be the Greatest of All Time.” Sally replied.

“But how can I be that when I fail to succeed at anything I do?” Charlie Brown questioned.

“You’re the best brother that anyone could have.” Sally said sweetly. 

“Thanks Sally.” Charlie Brown replied.

“And I’ll promise not to rely on you so often.” Sally said.

“That would be nice. Not that I’d be able to help you as of Tuesday.” Charlie Brown replied.

“Of course, you’re going to Budapest, aren’t you?” Sally remembered. “May I ask who else is going?”

“Well, there’s me, Linus, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Schroeder, Franklin, Pigpen, Janice Emmons and Five.”

‘“Just the Ten of you?” Sally asked.

“It’s a ten hour flight, and both our schools put together don’t have much, moneywise.” Charlie Brown answered.

“I see your point.” Sally replied.

“Rerun’s not going either, or Eudora.” Charlie Brown added. “And the older crowd are staying here.”

“Guess Easter’s gonna be a whole lot of fun this year.” Sally said.

“That's tomorrow. I'll still be here for that.” Charlie Brown reminded her.

“Oh, Yeah. Are Mom and Dad back yet?” Sally asked.

“Dad’s shift ends at 5:30pm, but Mom should be back from her PTA meeting by now. 

“Isn’t it time for Hot Chocolate and Biscuits now?” Sally asked.

“I’d say it is, it’s around 4:30 now.” At that point they heard footsteps from upstairs, going down.

“Hello, children.” Their mother said. “Back from baseball, I see.” She said, trying to sound happy. 

“Hi Mom.” Sally said. “Charlie Brown nearly won this time.”

“Did he now?” Mom replied. She was trying to be nice, but both Sally and Charlie Brown could tell that she wasn’t really interested. “What do you guys want for tea?”

“Hot Chocolate please!” Sally said quickly enthusiastically.

“Same for me, as well, please.” Charlie Brown said, slightly later. Mrs Brown went into the kitchen to make Hot Chocolate for the two, and a Coffee for herself.

Whilst the Chocolate and the Coffee were heated up, she put the cookie tin on the table. Charlie Brown and Sally opened the tin, chose to wait until the drinks were on the table before taking any cookies out. Sure enough, Mom went back into the dining room with their drinks. Once they were sat down, they drank their drinks and ate cookies.

With tea over, both Sally and Charlie Brown went upstairs to Charlie Brown’s room. Charlie Brown’s train set was set on the floor. Charlie Brown put his Baseball bat and cap in the cupboard, before playing with his trains. Sally looked outside the window. A shifty, pale faced teenager was walking past. Sally looked at him with suspicion, but nothing happened, so she turned away and watched Charlie Brown play with his train set. Sally then walked off to her room, bored of doing nothing, and looked at some old case files.

Meanwhile, Rerun and the other Van Pelts had already finished their tea, and Linus and Lucy were discussing the upcoming trip to Budapest again, on the sofa.

“Have you packed anything yet?” Lucy asked.

“Yes. I’ve packed clothes, stationery, my blanket, paper, comic books and a toy car.” Linus answered. “What about You?”

“I haven’t packed anything yet.” Lucy replied. At that point, Rerun walked in.

“What are you guys doing?” Rerun asked. 

“Talking about the school trip.” Linus replied.

“Are you guys going to have fun?” Rerun asked.

“Probably.” Lucy replied. “But you’ll still be able to find your own fun, Rerun.”

“I’m pretty sure of that too.” Rerun. “I get to be a deputy.” 

“That’s nice.” Linus replied. “Who are you working for?” he asked.

“Sally, aka your girlfriend.” Rerun answered. Lucy began to giggle.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Linus replied. “And please stop giggling. I don’t find it funny.” Lucy stopped, and punched him on the shoulder. 

“When do you start?” asked Lucy.

“Whenever I’m needed.” Rerun replied. “Sally can come and find me if she wants. Can we change the subject now?” he asked.

“Sure.” Replied Linus. “What did you want to talk about?” 

“Are you going to get souvenirs, or a postcard, or something like that?”

“We might do. It depends on how much free time we have, and what happens during the trip.” Linus Replied. “I also think Lucy should start packing now. The trip is in three days.”  
“Fine then. I will.” Lucy said, and she walked out of the room. Linus and Rerun sat patiently on the sofa. Rerun then decided that they should put a CD on to lighten the mood, so Linus decided to go upstairs and fetch the finest jazz CD he could find. Linus returned empty handed. 

“We don’t have any good CDs, only that modern stuff Lucy likes.” Linus said.

“I’m sure we used to have good music.” Rerun pleaded. “It’s probably been put somewhere else.” 

“Good Point.” Replied Linus. “I’ll go and ask Mom about it, though I doubt she’ll bother to look for it today.” At that moment Mr Van Pelt walked in.  
“Hi Dad.” Linus said.

“Good Evening, son.” He replied. “How has your Saturday been?”

“We lost the baseball game.” Linus replied. “But otherwise it’s been good. Do you know what we’re having for dinner?”

“We’re having pasta.” His father answered.

“Should I set the table?” Linus asked.

“That would help.” His father replied. Linus went to the drawer, taking out the knives, forks and spoons and placing them neatly.

“I would say you should get your sister to help you.” He said.

“She’s busy packing her stuff for Tuesday.” Linus replied, as he went to get the glasses. 

“She hasn’t done that yet?” he replied, before he sighed. Linus got out the plates, the orange juice, the water, the ketchup, the salt, the pepper, and the coasters.

Pasta only takes ten minutes to cook, so dinner was ready by 6:30. Linus, Lucy and Rerun were all sitting at the table when Mr and Mrs Van Pelt brought the pasta from the cooker. The parents sat down and they all began to eat. Linus enquired with Mom about the CD’s, to which she replied that she would look for them tomorrow. The kids chose have their pasta with ketchup, whilst the parents had garnished their pasta with salad. Once they had eaten all their food, it was time for dessert, and the Van Pelt family ate Ice Cream Sundaes. Once dinner was over, all the kids went to their rooms. Rerun chose to have an early night’s sleep, and as he was going to sleep, he thought about what adventures would await him tomorrow, or any other day for that matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shifty people are always suspicious...


	4. The Axe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally's morning is interrupted by some terrible news...

Sunday 27th March

Sally woke up at 7:45 in the morning, had breakfast, got dressed, brushed her teeth, and put on her tan-coloured longcoat. Most people would be at church today, seeing as it was Easter Sunday, and the service would be at 10:30. She sat down to look at her casebook. Yesterday evening, Sally had received a letter from Marcie detailing how someone had stolen cookies from her cookie jar. Sally could take a wild guess at who that was. After all, cookies were Snoopy’s favourite food, besides suppertime. 

Sally went downstairs and outside to question Snoopy at his doghouse. Meanwhile, over at the Van Pelt house, Rerun was sitting downstairs looking out of the window, and Linus and Lucy were talking about Easter Eggs.

“Where do you suppose Mom has hidden them this time?” Lucy asked.

“All the usual places.” Linus replied. “They’re hidden so that they can be found.”

“You’re smart.” Rerun commented.

“Thank you, Rerun.” Linus said in reply.

“You’re welcome.” Rerun said in return.

“The eggs will be outside, then.” Lucy surmised.

“No. It’s hot today. They’ll melt.” Linus said. Rerun looked out of the window to see a small boy running past. He looked back at his siblings. 

“Is there anything good on TV?” Lucy asked.

“Sunday morning kid’s shows, the news, home improvement programmes.” Linus suggested. 

“I’m not really interested in that today.” Lucy complained.

“Well I can’t help you there.” Linus replied.

“Watch it.” Lucy snapped. Linus rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, Sally was sitting at her desk looking through her casebook. She concluded that Snoopy had stolen the cookies, and she would tell Marcie when they next met. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door. Charlie Brown, who was sitting in the living room, opened the door. In front of him stood a small boy, around three years old, tired from running.

“Who are you?” asked Charlie Brown.

“My name’s Sammi. I need to find Sally Brown.”

“She’s upstairs. Why do you ask?” Charlie Brown answered. The little boy ran upstairs, and found Sally sitting in her chair.

“What’s wrong?” Sally asked, noticing the troubled look on the boy’s face.

“It’s my sister. She’s… dead.” Sammi said.

“What’s your name?” Sally asked.

“My name is Sammi Braun. Charlotte Braun was my sister.”

“Would you like me to investigate?”

“mm.” Sammi trembled.

“Show me to your house, then I can try to find out what happened.” Sally said.

Sammi Braun led Sally downstairs and out of the front door. Charlie Brown looked on. “She’s going to miss the service.” He pondered.

Rerun was still looking from his window, uninterested by his siblings’ talking points. Then, he saw Sally, walking and talking with the boy he had seen running earlier. Suddenly something clicked in his mind.

“A Case!” he shouted, ignorant to his surroundings.

“What do you mean, ‘a case’? Lucy asked him condescendingly.

“Sally has a case to solve.” Rerun said, apologetically.

“Well, if she needs you, then she can come and get you.” Lucy said firmly.

“It’s probably something minor, anyway.” Linus added.

“Like missing Easter eggs.” Lucy interjected.

“I should probably wait, then.” Rerun said to himself.

Back outside, Sally was talking with Sammi.

“Are you sure she’s dead?”

“She had an axe in her head.” Sammi replied.

“Oh my.” Sally exclaimed. “So this is a murder.”

“Mm hmm.” Sammi mumbled.

"Did you call an ambulance? Or the Police?"

“We called an ambulance over an hour ago, and the Police said they were too busy to handle it.”

“Right.” Sally said.

“I think she was killed in the middle of the night, though.”

“How so?” Sally asked.

“She looked dead when I woke up. And her hand was freezing cold.” 

“On a warm day like today? It seems like you couldn’t do much about it.” Sally said to him. I’m surprised you’re not in shock.”

“Running to your place was my way of dealing with it.” Sammi explained.

“I’m glad it helped.” Sally said. “Which of these houses is yours?” 

“Number 33.” Sammi said. “This one’s our house.” He proclaimed, as they stood in front of the door. Sally knocked on the door whilst Sammi stood beside her. A teary eyed woman opened the door. 

“I’m back, Mom.” Sammi said. “I brought a friend.”

“I see.” Mrs Braun said, struggling to speak in between sobs.

“I’m here to work out what happened, Ma’am.” Sally said.

Finally composing herself, Mrs Braun replied. “I guess that would be some sort of consolation.”

Sally and Sammi went upstairs. Sammi opened the door to his sister’s room. Charlotte Braun lay motionless on the bed, axe embedded in the side of her head. Sally had expected blood to be on the floor, but obviously it had been cleaned. Sally tried to examine the cut.

“Well, it went through the skull.” Sally said. “I’d say this is a throwing axe.” Sally continued to look around the room. There were many toys in the room; stuffed teddy bears, a xylophone and other things. Sally then took a look at her desk. She picked up a book, which read ‘Homework’. Sally threw it back onto the desk, when it hit a small box, made of wood. Sally picked the box up and peered into it. It was empty. Sally noticed that underneath it was a letter, addressed to Charlotte Braun. She showed Sammi the envelope. 

“May I read this?” Sally said. 

“Of course.” Sammi replied. “If it helps you find the bad person.”

Sally opened the envelope slowly and began to read it.

Charlotte Braun,  
I hope this box finds you in good condition. As I may have mentioned to you before, enclosed inside is a valuable item of utmost importance, known as the King’s Shooter, which must not fall into the wrong hands. It is paramount that you keep it a secret from anyone and everyone. If it has fallen into the wrong hands, you’ll have to ring me. If anyone else is reading this, they should ring me, too, via the following number: 009112407730. That way I know they’re trustworthy. The fate of the world could rest in your hands.  
Yours,  
Morag

“Right.” Sally said.

“What’s happened?” Sammi asked.

“The letter talks about a very important valuable item.” Sally explained.

“A valuable item?” Sammi responded. “You don’t think…”

“Possibly.” Sally said. “Though I’d think she’d have the sense to hide it somewhere.” 

“It’d be too easy to find. The room’s always tidy.” Sammi explained.

“I should still look.” Sally said. Sally began to look everywhere in the house, and after a while, having looked through every nook and cranny and obvious places, Sally concluded that it was not there. 

Back in the room, Sally looked at Sammi and thought aloud. “I think that Charlotte must have been holding it on her person, otherwise the Thief wouldn’t kill her, and in any case it’s not here.” 

“Are you going to find it?” Sammi asked.

“Yes, but I’ll need some help.” Sally replied.

“I can’t help you, I don’t know anything.” Sammi said, feeling sorry for himself.

“I didn’t mean from you, I meant from the girl who wrote the letter.” Sally replied.

“What are you going to do now?” asked Sammi. 

“I’m going to go home and think this over.” Replied Sally. “This is gonna be difficult.” Sally left Sammi’s house, taking the letter, and went back onto her own street, pondering what she should do next. She thought about whether to question anyone from town about the murder, or even the King’s Shooter. Then she remembered everyone was at church. Even if they weren’t Christian, most people in Birchwood went to the Easter service as an annual tradition. 

“If I want to question anyone, I’ll have to wait.” Sally thought to herself. Sally then realised that the church service was still going on, and that she’d probably be in trouble if she didn’t go there immediately. She began to run. She managed to get to the church a little bit after it started, and filed into a seat next to Charlie Brown.

“Have I missed anything?” Sally whispered to her brother.

“No, thankfully.” Charlie Brown whispered back. “What took you so long?”

“I’ll tell you on the way home.” Sally replied quietly. “When’s Sunday School?”

“In a couple of minutes.” Charlie Brown responded. 

Not long after finishing the first songs, Charlie Brown, Sally, Linus and all the other kids went off to Sunday School. The kids all looked at the Easter Story, as was the case every year, serving as a reminder that Easter wasn’t just about eggs. After the service had finished, Charlie Brown and Sally ate refreshments and started to walk home, tailed by their parents. 

“So what did happen?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Someone put an axe in Charlotte Braun’s head.” Sally replied grimly.

“Good grief.” Charlie Brown replied, just as grimly. “And I thought Birchwood was a tiny, peaceful village.”

“Stranger things have happened.” Sally replied. Charlie Brown sighed.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Try and find the culprit. Currently I know it happened in the middle of the night, using a very sharp throwing axe, and that this case runs deeper than I first thought.” Sally explained.

“How so?” Charlie Brown asked. Sally took the letter out of her coat pocket.

“Here, take a look. This should explain a few things.” Charlie Brown read the letter, in full.

“Signed, Morag.” 

“Morag?” Charlie Brown exclaimed, puzzled. “But she’s my pen-pal.”

“That’s what I thought.” Sally replied. 

“And what is this thing about the King’s Shooter?” Charlie Brown asked. “It seems rather far-fetched.”

“Nevertheless,” Sally Brown said. “Charlotte Braun was murdered, so it’s almost certainly true. And the King’s Shooter is probably in the hands of the culprit now.” “I can prove it when I call that number enclosed, see?”

“Okay, but that just makes it even scarier.” Charlie Brown replied, as he handed the letter back to Sally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're reading this, Don't ring that number... I have no idea what it does.


	5. SPY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally makes some tough decisions, and Charlie Brown will support her every step of the way

“We’ll just have to deal with it.” Sally responded, putting the letter back in her coat pocket.

“I guess so.” Charlie Brown said. “Still, at least we still have an Easter egg hunt to do.”

“Let’s do that first.” Sally said. Charlie Brown and Sally approached their house, with their parents not far behind. Snoopy was waiting for them on top of his doghouse. 

“Afternoon, Snoopy.” Charlie Brown said. “Has the Easter Beagle delivered any eggs?” Snoopy nodded.

Charlie Brown and Sally walked into their house.

“What now?” Sally asked. Where are the Easter eggs?” 

“They’re inside.” Charlie Brown replied, picking up an egg from the first drawer he looked inside.

“That’ll make it easier.” Sally replied. The two set about finding all of the Easter eggs. After half an hour, Sally had found 3 whilst Charlie Brown had found 5.

“Are you going to eat yours now?” Charlie Brown asked.

“No, I’ll eat them later.” Sally replied. Sally walked upstairs to her office. She sat at her desk and took the letter out of her coat pocket. She looked carefully at the number and input it into the telephone. The telephone made a dialling sound.

“Hello?” “Who’s there?” said a child’s voice on the line.

“Hello, my name is Sally Brown.” 

“Are you by chance, related to Charlie Brown?” 

“Yes. I assume you must be Morag?” Sally replied.

“That is correct.” Morag replied. “I’ve sent countless letters to your brother.”

“I know, we still have them.” Sally said.

“Might I ask what you are calling me for?” Morag asked.

“It’s about the King’s Shooter.” Sally replied.

“What happened?” Morag responded, slightly alarmed.

“I was called in to Charlotte Braun’s house this morning, she had an Axe embedded halfway through her head. And the King’s Shooter has disappeared.”

“Oh, Good Grief!” Morag exclaimed.

“I assume that she was holding the Shooter on her person, or she’d be still alive. Sally explained.

“So her killer has the Marble?” Morag asked.

“I’m pretty sure of it.” Sally replied.

“This is bad.” Morag said.

“Why?” Sally asked. “The letter didn’t elaborate much on the Shooter.”

“Allow me to explain.” Morag began. “The King’s Shooter is a crystal clear marble, save for an oddly shaped gold key embedded inside it.”

“What does the key do?” Sally asked.

“Allegedly, it’s the key to an ancient room, full of gold and weapons.” Morag replied.

“So if the killer has it…” Sally started.

“… It could lead to big problems.” Morag replied.

“I see.” Sally replied. “What are we going to do about it?” 

“I don’t know yet, but we should work out a plan.”

“Seeing as Charlotte Braun used to have the Marble, I think you work for an Organisation.”

“Yes, you’re right.” Morag replied. “I run an organisation called the Society for the Protection of the Young, or SPY, in short form.” 

Sally broke into a smirk. “I had a feeling this case was spy related.” 

“I’m going to hold an emergency meeting, with you and the other SPY agents.” Morag told her.

“Where is it?” Sally asked.

“Santa Venera” Morag replied. 

“Where’s that?” 

“It’s in Malta, about two and a half miles west of Valletta. Look for 3, Wignacourt Rd.” “When can you make it?”

“8am Tuesday at the very earliest.” Sally replied. “If I can get a plane.” She thought.

“Noon time works best for us.” Morag replied. “See you then.” Before she hung up. Sally put the phone back down on the desk. By now it was lunchtime, and Charlie Brown was already downstairs waiting.

“What’s for lunch?” Sally asked.

“The usual.” Charlie Brown replied. “Did you find out anything?”

“I’ll tell you later, but you’ll have to keep it a secret.” Sally answered.

“I see.” Charlie Brown replied.

Charlie Brown, Sally, and the rest of the family got on with eating lunch, and once that was finished, Sally led Charlie Brown into her office.

“So what do you know?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Well,” Sally began. “According to Morag, the King’s Shooter is a Key encased in a marble, which leads to gold and weapons.”

“Is this the same Morag I write to?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Yes. She told me that she runs a Spy network, and she wants me to be in Malta by Tuesday morning. I don’t even know where Malta is.”

“It’s a small island South of Italy.” Charlie Brown replied.

“Okay.” Sally replied. “Could I borrow your motorcycle tomorrow morning?” 

“No.” Charlie Brown replied. “That would be dangerous and irresponsible.” 

“Alright then, fine.” Sally replied. There was a pause. 

“I just worked out something, Sally.” Charlie Brown said. 

“What’s that?” Sally asked.

“Morag once told me she had 30 other pen-pals…”

“So, if she runs a spy network…” Sally added.

“Then all of those pen-pals are spies!” Charlie Brown said.

“If they’re ever smart enough to work that out.” Sally replied. “She wrote to you, and you were clueless.”

“True.” Charlie Brown responded, feeling a sense of inadequacy. “I’m going to go to my room and start eating my Easter eggs.”

“See ya.” Sally replied. Sally sat in her room, pondering what to do next. She was then interrupted by a knock on the front door. Sally went downstairs to answer the front door.  
“Hi there Sally.” Said Rerun.

“You’re here, great.” Sally replied.

“Is there anything I can help with?” Rerun asked.

“Erm… yes, there is.” Sally answered.

“I thought so. I saw you outside earlier.” Rerun replied.

“Well, it’s more serious than you think.”

“How so?”

“Can’t tell. It’s a secret.” Sally said.

“Please tell me.” Rerun pleaded.

“I won’t say why, but I have to track down a strange marble. I want you to take care of the office while I’m gone.”

“But why?”

“It should be obvious eventually.” Sally replied. 

“Okay.” Rerun said, with disappointment. “Where are you going?”

“Malta.” Sally replied. “You can start tomorrow.” Sally replied. “I’ll ask my brother to let you in.”

“See you soon.” Rerun replied, as he left, closing the door behind him.

Sally went back to her office, and sat down at her desk. Charlie Brown walked in a few seconds later. “I hear you’re going anyway.” Charlie Brown said to her.

“Of course!” Sally replied. “It’s not something that I’d have foreseen, but it has to be done.” Sally replied. 

“So…” Charlie Brown began.

“It’s not about me.” Sally replied. 

“Hmm.” Charlie Brown thought aloud. “Is it something you’ve been told that I don’t know about?” 

“No, I already told you everything I know.” Sally replied. “I think it’s because I might actually be believing what she’s telling me.”

“It’s probably because of Charlotte Braun that you believe any of this. In any other case, you’d never think it to be true.”

“It just seems impossible.” Sally replied. “But instinct tells me this is true.”

“You’re free to make your own decisions, Sally.” Charlie Brown assured her. “Just don’t do anything too stupid.”

“I’ll be fine.” Sally reassured him.

“I hope so.” Charlie Brown replied. “What do you plan on doing in the meantime?”

“Pack, I presume. And lightly.” Sally replied. Charlie Brown left Sally alone as she gathered all the essentials she would need for a journey to a foreign country. Charlie Brown had already packed for his trip, of course, even if his luggage was bulging slightly. 

Meanwhile, at Linus’ house, Rerun had just returned. Linus was looking slightly concerned. 

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Rerun asked.

“No, I didn’t know anything happened.” Linus replied. “I know Sally was late to church, but I’m none the wiser.” 

“I know Charlotte Braun wasn’t at Sunday school today.” Lucy added.

“That might have something to do with it.” Linus replied. “I just assumed she was ill.”

“I asked Sally about it.” Rerun said. “She won’t tell me what’s going on. All I know is that something big happened, and that she left me in charge of the office.”

“Where’s she going, then?” Linus asked.

“Tracking down a strange marble.” Rerun answered, using his fingers as air quotes. “She also said about Malta.”

“That’s odd.” Linus replied. “Malta’s really far away. Are you sure you heard this, Rerun?”

“I said it was something big.” Rerun replied.

“I see.” Linus said, pensively. “I hope she’ll be alright.”

“She’ll be fine, I think.” Rerun reassured him. 

“I thought you didn’t like her.” Lucy said to him.

“I like her, just… as a friend.” Linus replied slowly. Lucy gave him a shifty look, before reaching for the TV remote and switching on to her favourite channel. They spent the next hour or two watching TV. Soon enough, it was tea time, and the Van Pelt children had gathered around the table.

“So, what’s going on?” Lucy asked. 

“I’m not really sure.” Rerun answered. “Sally won’t tell me anything. It’s as if she was hiding something on purpose.”

“Maybe it’s something a kindergartener like you was not meant to know about.” Linus asked.

“Like what? Murder?” Rerun asked.

Linus and Lucy both jumped in fright.

“Surely not!” Linus protested, clutching his blanket ever tighter. 

“Maybe I should ask her.” Lucy suggested. 

“Good idea.” Linus replied.

The three of them sat down and finished drinking their hot chocolate. Lucy got up, and walked out the front door. She walked her way to Charlie Brown and Sally’s house, with a grumpy look on her face, to ask Sally a few questions. She knocked on the door loudly. Charlie Brown answered the door. 

“Hi there Lucy.” Charlie Brown. “You don’t look too happy.”

“You bet I’m not.” Lucy replied sternly.

“Why?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Why?!” Lucy shouted. “Because we wanna know what’s going on!”

“You mean, about Charlotte Braun?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Yes, if that’s what all this commotion is about.” Lucy replied in a harsh tone.

“It’s rather grim.” Charlie Brown warned.

“Go on.” Lucy persuaded.

“Charlotte Braun is dead.” Charlie Brown told her. “According to Sally, she was found with an axe in her head.”

“Oh.” Lucy said. “You did warn me…” she said, taken aback. She walked away from the door and back home. She walked in through the front door and slumped onto the sofa.

“Any news?” Linus asked.

“It’s bad.” Lucy sighed.

“How bad?” Linus asked.

“There was a murder.” Lucy told them. The other two were stunned in shock. After a brief pause, Linus spoke.

“We don’t get murders here.” Linus replied.

“So if Charlotte’s dead, then why is Sally chasing a marble?” Rerun asked. “And why is she going to Malta?”

“We just don’t know.” Linus replied.

“It’s probably very complicated.” Lucy said.

Back at Charlie Brown’s house, a few hours had passed, and Sally had finished packing. Charlie, Sally and the parents were eating roast pork for dinner, glazed in barbeque sauce. Sally stayed mostly silent through the entire meal, whilst Charlie Brown kept the parents busy with small talk about the trip to Budapest.

“Will you get Sally a souvenir?” Mrs Brown asked.

“Oh, I will.” Charlie Brown replied, glancing at Sally for a moment. “If I find anything.”

“Thank you, Big Brother.” Sally replied. 

“You’ve been rather quiet this evening, Sally.” Her father said to her.

“Have I?” Sally asked.

“She has a lot to think about.” Charlie Brown said after some hesitation.

“Like what?” Mr Brown asked.

“Like uh, what to do when all the rest of us are away.” Charlie Brown replied.

“That makes sense.” He replied. “Have you thought of anything, Sally?” 

“No, not yet.” Sally lied. “I still have a day or two to figure something out.” Sally said to them, before turning to Charlie Brown.

The Family continued eating. Soon enough it was time for dessert, which tonight was a generously sized chocolate cake.

“This looks tasty.” Sally commented. “Shame we won’t all be able to enjoy finishing it.” She said, looking at Charlie Brown.

Charlie Brown feigned a disappointed look. Secretly he knew that Sally wouldn’t finish the cake either.

“Well, maybe we’ll have to finish it today.” Charlie Brown said.

“That would be unhealthy, and make you sick.” Mrs Brown said authoritatively, cautioning her son.

“That’s true, I guess…” Charlie Brown sighed. “I can still have one slice, can’t I?” 

“Yes, but just one, ok?” she replied, whilst cutting two slices of cake. Charlie Brown and Sally ate their cake gladly. Once they were finished, they both left the table and went upstairs. Just as they were about to go to their rooms, Charlie Brown stopped and said…

“Sally, what’s your plan tomorrow?” 

“Take the bike at 7, and head for the airport.” 

“Okay. And I’ll distract Mom and Dad, right?” Charlie Brown said with exasperation. Sally just nodded. 

“One more thing, Sally.” 

“What’s that?” Sally replied.

“Don’t die. Please?” Charlie Brown asked.

“I’ll be careful, I promise.” Sally replied.

“Okay.” Charlie Brown replied, as he went into his room.

Later, Charlie Brown sat in bed and thought to himself. He wondered whether Sally had a plan beyond going to the airport. He wondered how Sally could possibly get herself on a plane. He wondered if Sally would be okay alone, and if she would survive her adventure. He guessed he’d find out in a couple of days, and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Giving yourself distractions won't cure your problems, but it can delay them...


	6. A Stroke of Luck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally heads off on a quest to save the world. Charlie Brown and Linus try to organise a group discussion via a picnic.

Monday 28th March  
Sally woke up early. She knew exactly what her plan was. Get to the airport and find a plane to Malta. She got up and dressed and had breakfast. She did this very quietly, so her parents wouldn’t wake up. She took the letter from her desk and some sunglasses and tucked them into her longcoat. She went outside at almost 7am. 

Charlie Brown woke up to the sound of a motorcycle engine roaring. He knew Sally had already gone. “No time for fun and games.” He thought. He went downstairs and had breakfast, which consisted of dry cereal and toast. Around ten minutes later, when his parents showed up, Charlie Brown grew worried. 

“Where’s Sally, Charlie Brown?” his mother asked.

“She found something to do.” Charlie Brown replied, after about 30 seconds of pure silence.

“And what would that be?” his father asked.

After another long pause, Charlie Brown answered. “According to her, saving the world.” Charlie Brown was telling a blank and ever-present absolute truth, but his parents didn’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation.

“And when will she be back?” they asked.

“I don’t know. But I will make sure to get her back when she’s done with her world-saving.” He said, before running upstairs. 

“What’s with him?” they both wondered.

Sally, meanwhile, was riding along the highway at a considerable, but not dangerous speed. The road was relatively clear, given the wideness of the highway, and the fact that everyone usually left on holiday two days ago. She was wearing sunglasses, so as to keep the sun from getting in her eyes. There was no Police around, given the current political situation. A few minutes later, she pulled up at the gates of the airport. The gate to the airport was open, so she pulled up at a parking space, and took off her shades. She figured that she wasn’t going to get on a commercial flight. She had almost no money, no ID, and no security clearance. She looked around. She saw nothing, save for a few cars, the terminal, and a wall. Sally decided the wall was her best chance of finding a plane. So she climbed over it with her little legs. 

Just over the other side of the wall was what appeared to be a small jet. Sally looked more closely and saw that it was being cleaned by a dark haired girl wearing blue. She jumped down and walked towards her. The girl turned around. 

“Hi there Sally.” The girl said sweetly. “What brings you here?”

“Hi Eudora.” Sally replied. “Is this your plane?” she asked her. 

“No, this is my dad’s.” Eudora replied. “But I’m perfectly capable of flying it. Are you going somewhere?” 

“Well, yes.” Sally replied. “Someone rang me and told me to meet them in Malta.” 

“Someone you know?” Eudora asked, concerned.

“Charlie Brown’s Pen Pal.” Sally replied.

“Er, that makes sense.” Eudora responded uncertainly. “You better get in. I was going to take this birdie for a spin anyway.” Sally got in the plane. The plane was very small. There were eight seats for passengers. Sally sat in one of the front seats. 

“You can sit in the front with me, Sally.” Eudora called. Sally made her way into the cockpit.

“How many times have you flown this thing?” Sally asked. 

“Twice.” Eudora replied. “And I landed it perfectly both times.”

“Ok.” Sally replied uncertainly.

“Before we fly.” Eudora began. “A couple of issues.” 

“What are those?” Sally asked.

“1, Malta is a 12hr flight, and neither of us have any lunch.”

“Oh. You’re right.” Sally admitted. I forgot about lunch.

“We’ll have to stop somewhere along the way to refuel and to eat.” Eudora surmised.

“What about the other issues?” Sally asked.

“Time-zone differences.” Eudora said to her. “Malta is 7 hours ahead of Minnesota Time.”

“Got it. I’ll just adjust my watch.” Sally adjusted her watch accordingly. The time now read 14:00.

“Ready for take-off?” Eudora asked.

“Ready.” Sally replied. Eudora released the brakes and began to Taxi down the runway. Once her plane had gained enough velocity, Eudora’s plane was in the sky. Eudora raised their altitude to around 2000 metres before levelling off. Whilst the plane was cruising, Eudora began to chat with Sally again.

“So Sally, what are you doing away from home?” Eudora asked.

“I’ve been invited to a meeting.” Sally replied.

“Why?” Eudora asked.

“A mutual friend of ours was killed.” Sally replied. “And a valuable item was stolen.”

“That’s news to me.” Eudora replied. “Who died? I spent most of yesterday in bed.”

“Charlotte Braun.” Sally replied grimly. Eudora’s face sank.

“I liked her.” Eudora mused. “I hope you find the culprit.” She said solemnly. “Can we change the subject now?”

“Of course.” Sally replied. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Certainly.” Eudora responded.

“How does your father own a plane?” Sally asked.

“My dad works for this big company. Usually he flies this plane, but he flew first class on a public airline two days ago, on business.” 

“Interesting. Where is he going?” Sally asked.

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me.” Eudora answered. “I don’t know if this is relevant or not, but I do know that his company is called Equinux Computing.”

“I’ll make a note of that.” Sally replied. The plane continued to fly east.

Back in Birchwood, Linus and Lucy were enjoying toast for breakfast, when Lucy broke the silence.

“So what’s Sally doing today?” Lucy asked. “I understand the situation with Charlotte Braun and all, but…”

“She’s going to Malta.” Said Rerun from the doorway, still in his onesie. “I thought I told you already.”

“I didn’t believe you the first time.” Lucy replied.

“I think if we wanted definitive proof, we should talk to Charlie Brown.” Linus suggested.

“Good idea, we’ll do that later.” Rerun replied, as he joined in with breakfast.

A few houses away, Charlie Brown was already up and dressed and very keen to leave. He knew that Sally wasn’t going to be back for a long time, but his parents didn’t know that. He knew he was in for one hell of a verbal butchering tonight. 

“I might as well enjoy the day with my friends.” Thought Charlie Brown, as he tied his shoelaces. He walked out of his house and shut the door. Snoopy was sleeping on top of his doghouse, belly stuffed with food. Charlie Brown walked aimlessly forward, before a voice rung out to him.

“What’s Up, Charlie Brown?” Linus asked him. “You don’t look too happy.” 

“Sally’s gone to Malta.” Charlie Brown answered. “And my parents don’t know.”

“That sounds problematic.” Linus replied. “What do you plan to do about it?”

“Play and chat with friends and have some fun, you know, avoid the problem.” Charlie Brown replied. 

“I say we should gather all of us on the trip together for a picnic.” Linus suggested.

“Where do you want that?”

“On the Baseball Field.” Linus replied. “There’s no game on today.”

“We need some time to organise this.” Charlie Brown told him.”

“Well, it’s 8:30.” Linus replied. “So we have 3 and a half hours to sort it out.”

“I’ll bring bread and peanut butter.” Charlie Brown said.

I’ll bring the potato chips, and the blanket.” Linus agreed. The two of them split off and went back home.

A few moments later, Charlie Brown and Linus were both at their phones, ringing all of the other kids about the Picnic.

“Hi there, Peppermint Patty.”

“Hiya, Chuck!” she replied.

“Me, Linus, and a few others are having a picnic at 12. Wanna join us?”

“Duh, of course.” She replied. “I’ll bring Orange Juice.”

“Thanks, Peppermint Patty.” Charlie Brown replied, before hanging up. A few doors down, Linus was handling a similar call.

“Hi Franklin, How are you?” 

“Great, I’m doing band practice with Pigpen.”

“Cool.” Linus replied. “Charlie Brown and I are having a picnic at 12.” “You going?”

“Sure, I’ll bring the cutlery.” Franklin replied, before he hung up. 

“Who’s next?” Charlie Brown thought to himself. “I’ll ring up Marcie.” He said. The phone rang.

“Hi, Marcie.”

“Hello, Charles.” She replied. “How is you day going?”

“Better than usual.” Charlie Brown replied. “Me and Linus are hosting a picnic at 12 on the baseball field. You interested?” 

“Yes I am. I’ll bring butter, and ham and cheese.”

“Thanks, Marcie.” Charlie Brown replied.

“You’re welcome, Charles.” Marcie replied, before hanging up.

Not very far away, Schroeder was sitting in his house playing the piano. Lucy was leaning on it, as usual. Suddenly the phone rang.

“Who could that be?” Lucy asked as she went up to answer the phone.

“Hello?” Linus said.

“Linus? What are you doing!? Can’t you see I’m spending quality time with Schroeder?”

“No, I’m at home, of course I can’t see that.” Linus retorted.

“You and your wisecracks.” Lucy responded, annoyed. “What is it you want, anyway?”

“Charlie Brown and I are having a picnic at 12, at the baseball park. You in?”

“I’m in. Schroeder says he’ll bring glasses, and napkins.”

Linus heard a “Good Grief” audibly from the other end.

“See you there.” He put the phone down. “I think I’ll take a break now.” Linus thought to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter's a bit short, but this was the best cutoff point i could find for it.


	7. Lunch Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eudora and Sally stop for Lunch. Charlie Brown and co discuss recent events over a picnic.

Up in the sky, Eudora and Sally were still chatting.

“So why aren’t you on the trip to Budapest?” Sally asked. 

“Why aren’t you?” Eudora asked back.

“My family can’t afford to take the both of us.” Sally replied. “What about you.”

“Daddy wouldn’t let me. He didn’t say why, but he was quite upset about it.” Eudora replied. “I don’t see why I can’t go.”

“Maybe he just cares about your safety a lot.” Sally told her. 

“And the rest of your parents don’t?” Eudora asked. 

“They do.” Sally replied. “I just made a bad suggestion.”

“Okay then. Let’s move on.” Eudora requested.

“Yes. Let’s.” Sally agreed. “What’s the time?”

“It’s 17:30 European time, or 10:30 Your time.” Eudora answered.

“We should probably get lunch then.” Sally suggested.

“Fasten your seatbelt then.” Eudora told her. “We’re landing.”

“Where, exactly?” Sally asked.

“In this field.” Eudora said. “The land is flat.”

“Good. Have you ever landed this thing before?”

“Yes. I already mentioned that.” Eudora assured. Sally held on to her seat as Eudora began to descend. Eudora circled the field several times, slowing down with each turn. Finally she tipped the plane upwards so it would land smoothly on the very flat field. Eudora applied the brakes and the plane stopped.

“Relax Sally, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Eudora assured. Sally was petrified and unmoving, and sweat was dripping down her face. Eudora waved her hand in front of Sally.

“Huh.” Sally said, startled.

“We’ve landed.”

“Oh, Good.” Sally replied.

“How about we get some lunch.” Eudora kindly suggested. Sally just nodded her head. Eudora hopped off of her plane, with Sally in tow. Sally observed the field. It was very green, save for the freshly laid tyre tracks and the hedges in the distance.

“Where are we?” Sally asked.

“Newfoundland.” Eudora replied. I’ve been here before. Come on, there’s a fuel station just on the other side.

“Right!” Sally replied, as she followed on after her. Eudora and Sally climbed over the hedgerow to find a solitary road running through it. 

“There’s the fuel stop!” Eudora shouted, pointing it out. The pair scurried towards the fuel stop. Before entering the convenience store within.

“Hi Grandpa.” Eudora said. 

“Hello, my little Eudora. How are you?” the man behind the counter responded. “And who is that with you?”

“I’m doing great, thanks.” Eudora replied. “Grandpa, this is Sally. Sally, this is Grandpa. She’s a friend of mine.”

“You still learning to fly?” He asked.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Sally replied, with sarcasm.

“What’s up?” He asked. Eudora walked up to her grandfather and whispered in his ear.

“Ah, right.” He responded. “You must be hungry. Please, help yourself.” Sally looked around for food to buy. Eudora headed straight for the sandwich section. She already knew what she was having. Sally was deciding which potato chips she would have. Eudora had already found a sandwich and some bottled water. Sally and Eudora both chose Ready Salted crisps. A few moments later they were both at the counter. 

“That will be $5 please.” Sally and Eudora split it between them.

“Goodbye, Grandpa.” Eudora called to him, before both her and Sally rushed back to the plane.

Meanwhile, back in Minnesota, Charlie Brown was busy waiting to set up the picnic. He and Linus had already rung all of the others, but it was still late morning. As Charlie Brown was drinking hot chocolate, he heard a knock on the door. Charlie Brown got up from his chair and answered the door.

“Hi, Charlie Brown.”

“Hi, Rerun.” 

“Can I use the office?” Rerun asked.

“No.” Charlie Brown replied. “Sally is away, so the office here is closed. You may use your own house to do your detective work. I’m in enough trouble as it is, letting Sally run off like she has.”

“Well, what can I do?” Rerun asked, suddenly downbeat. 

“Your brother and I are having a picnic down at the baseball park at noon, and everyone will be there. In the meantime you and I can play with my train set. Does that sound good to you?”

“It sure does.” Rerun replied. Charlie Brown and Rerun played with the train set for a good while, and before long it was time to go. Rerun helped Charlie Brown carry the bread and the peanut butter to the Baseball field. Linus was already there, laying out his blanket and several packets of potato chips. 

“Hi, Charlie Brown. Hi, Rerun.” He called out.

“Hi, Linus.” Charlie Brown replied. “Where is everyone?”

“They’ll be here in a minute.” Linus answered.

“Why are we having a picnic?” Rerun asked, suddenly.

“We want to talk to everyone about the trip tomorrow.” Charlie Brown replied.

“And also about Sally and her ‘case’.” Linus added.

“Oh, right.” Rerun replied. The three of them sat on the blanket for a minute or two, pondering how to pass the time, when, soon enough, Peppermint Patty and Marcie arrived.  
“Hiya Chuck! Hi Linus!” Peppermint Patty said joyfully.

“Good afternoon, Charles.” Marcie said. “We brought the drinks and fridge items.”

“Thanks.” Linus replied. “We appreciate it.” 

“So, where’s the rest of lunch, you know, plates and all.” Peppermint Patty asked.

“The others are bringing it.” Charlie Brown replied.

“Who?” Peppermint Patty asked, before turning round to see Franklin, Pigpen, Schroeder and Lucy approaching the field, chatting to each other.

“Hi, Guys.”

“Hey, Charlie Brown.” Schroeder said to him. “Franklin and Pigpen and I were just talking about forming a jazz band together.”

“And?” Charlie Brown asked, curious.

“I haven’t decided yet.” Schroeder told him. 

“Okay.” Charlie Brown replied. “Anyway, Let’s have some lunch, guys!” he called out to everyone present. Everyone sat down on the blanket and made their own sandwiches and took a bag of crisps/potato chips.

“So where’s Sally?” asked Franklin.

“Sally’s… somewhere.” Charlie Brown replied.

“On a plane to Malta.” Rerun said, raising his index finger and feeling smart.

“Malta?” Franklin asked, puzzled.

“Yes, Malta.” Replied Linus, tucking into a sandwich. “Have you heard about what happened to Charlotte Braun?”

“Yes. We did. We heard she was axed by some madman.” Franklin replied.

“It’s sad, really.” Lucy replied. “She was a good friend of ours.” 

“It’s just a great big mess, really.” Charlie Brown added. “Sally’s managed to get thrown into the deep end of a world she knows nothing about.”   
“What do you mean?” Schroeder asked. “Do continue.” As Charlie Brown was about to speak, Joe Agate, known bully and former marbles champion, walked up to them. The group looked up at him in disdain.

“What’s up?” Joe asked. “It seems weird to have a picnic on a day like today.”

“We’re discussing the trip tomorrow, and unfortunately, current events.” 

“I see.” Joe Agate replied. News of Charlotte’s death had apparently spread to the outskirts of Minneapolis, Charlie Brown thought. 

“Joe.” Charlie Brown began. “Have you heard of a Marble known as the King’s Shooter?”

“I’ve heard of it.” Joe replied. “It’s an ancient relic buried in Europe somewhere. Don’t ask me where, I only know about it from an article on the internet.”

“So you’ve never seen it with your own eyes?” Charlie Brown asked him, suspicious. The Van Pelts also eyed him suspiciously.

“No, never.” Joe replied, looking at the angry faces. “I don’t suppose there is any reason why I would?”

“Sit down, Joe.” Charlie Brown commanded. “I have something to tell you.” Joe Agate, against his own instincts, decided to sit down. “Well, what is it?” Joe asked.

“According to a letter that Sally and I saw, Charlotte had possession of it just before she died. Does this ring a bell?”

“No, but I understand why you would feel the way you do about me, Joe Agate. After all, I’m the best marbles player this side of the Mississippi.” Charlie Brown looked at him with a crooked smile. “You beat me once, ok?” Joe reminded him. “And don’t ask for a rematch, because I didn’t bring my marbles with me today.”

“So what were you doing before we interrupted you?” Charlie Brown asked. 

“Oh, Thibault wanted a boxing match with me.” Joe replied. “I should probably get going. Thibault doesn’t like waiting. See ya.” Joe Agate stood up and walked away. Charlie Brown got back to eating.

“So, did you think he had anything to do with it?” Franklin asked, whilst eating some crisps.

“I hope not.” Charlie Brown asked. “We all have reason to suspect him, but I’m sure he was telling us the truth.”

“What was Charlotte doing with such a gem anyway?” Schroeder asked.

“Beats me.” Pig pen responded.

“I don’t know.” Linus added. “But I’m sure Sally will let us know once this blows over.” The group were finishing their picnic, and soon it was time to go back home. Charlie Brown and Linus were last to leave. 

“Do you think the trip will be fun?” Linus replied.

“Depends on your idea of fun.” Charlie Brown replied. They walked home, chatting to each other, before they reached their houses.

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, Sally and Eudora were enjoying chit chat over lunch. 

“So what sandwich did you get?” Eudora asked.

“Ham and Cheese.” Sally replied. “What about yours?”

“I got an English Breakfast sandwich.”

“What’s that?” Sally asked.

“It’s got egg, sausage, bacon, mayo and ketchup.” Eudora explained. 

“You have odd tastes.” Sally replied.

“It doesn’t bother me.” Eudora replied. “What time is it?”

“9pm Malta time.” Sally replied.

“I should probably grab a few winks.” Eudora replied. “I need to be wide awake when I land this thing.”

“So you want me to fly it while you sleep?”

“No. Just wake me up if anything goes wrong.” Eudora replied. “I know you’re afraid of flying, but you’ll just have to trust me. As long as we’re level, we’re fine.” Around two and a half hours later, Sally woke Eudora up.”

“What’s up?” Eudora asked. 

“We’re losing altitude.” Sally replied.

“Not to worry. I can fix that.” Eudora said, getting up and reading the altimeter.

“We’re only at 700m.” Sally said, in a slightly panicky tone. Eudora made the plane level again, and slowly raised the altitude.

“I think it’s your turn to have a nap now.” Eudora suggested. Sally followed her suggestion, and began to nod off. 

It was nearing 7pm in Minnesota, and Charlie Brown was feeling worried. He didn’t know what to tell his parents. He couldn’t just say that Sally was in Malta. That would be foolish and get him into trouble. He sat on the dining table, pondering what to do next. Moments later, his parents sat down, putting pizza on the table.

“You look worried Charlie Brown.” His father said to him. 

“I am.” Charlie Brown replied.

“Where’s Sally?” Mrs Brown asked. Charlie Brown was about to say “saving the world” when his father whispered in her ear. Mrs Brown looked concerned. Mr Brown whispered some more. Charlie Brown didn’t know exactly what they were saying, but he knew that it was about Sally.

“I guess you know.” Charlie Brown said. 

“Yes. We kind of hoped you were joking this morning. But you weren’t, were you?”

“I wasn’t, no.” Charlie Brown admitted. 

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it right now.” Mr Brown relented. “And you have a trip tomorrow.”

“In the meantime we’ll have to hope and pray.” Mrs Brown said. “Especially pray.” The three of them continued eating, and soon enough it was time for bed. Charlie Brown got into bed, and looked at his suitcase. He stared into space and thought about the trip. He hoped that everything on the trip would run smoothly, and that Sally would be safe and happy on her travels.


	8. Departure and Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally lands in Malta and heads for the meeting house. Charlie Brown and Co leave on the plane to Budapest.

Tuesday 29th March

It was almost 2am Malta time, and Eudora and Sally were fast approaching Valletta airport. Eudora opened the comms.

“Hello, is this Malta International Airport?”

“Yes, this is MLA, who is this?”

“This is Elm 1 requesting permission to land.” Eudora said.

“Permission granted.” Said the voice on the other end. Malta approached the runway at a gentle angle. Sally put on her seatbelt and held on her seat tightly. Eudora slowed down the plane and landed smoothly on the runway, before applying on the brakes and putting the plane to a standstill. Sally and Eudora both agreed to have a long sleep soon after, seeing as it was only 2am and the meeting would not be for another 10 hours. 

6am, Minnesota. Charlie Brown was just waking up. He sat up in his bed, wondering what he was doing up this early. He tried to recall the events of the previous day. Looking at the suitcase on the floor he then remembered.

“I’m going to Hungary today.” He said with light enthusiasm. He quickly had cold cereal for breakfast before getting dressed and ready for the day. He then lugged his heavy suitcase down stairs and dragged it out to Mrs Brown’s car, which had been waiting for him, along with Charlie Brown’s parents. With the suitcase firmly in the boot, and Charlie Brown in the backseat, the Browns began to drive to the Airport.

“It’d be nice if Sally was here.” Mrs Brown commented.

“Well, what can we do about it?” Charlie Brown retorted. 

“Nothing, we’ll just have to keep hoping.” Mr Brown assured, keeping his eyes firmly on the road.

“I’ll write letters every day.” Charlie Brown said.

“And so will we.” Mrs Brown replied. A short while later, they pulled into the Airport Car Park. Charlie Brown got out of his car and took his bulging suitcase out of the boot. He pulled it along behind him as he followed his parents into the airport check in. Ms Othmar was already standing there waiting, along with the Van Pelts, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Schroeder, Franklin, Pig-pen and their Families. Charlie Brown walked up to the rest of them.

“That makes just two kids left.” Ms Othmar muttered to herself. 

“Which two?” Charlie Brown whispered to Linus.

“Five and Janice Emmons.” Linus whispered back.

“Ok Got it.” Charlie Brown said. Not 5 minutes later, Five’s family and Janice’s Family walked in together. 

“Right. That’s all of us.” Ms Othmar said happily. “Say goodbye to your Moms and Dads now, please.” The kids duly complied. Charlie Brown ran up to and hugged his parents.  
“See you in a week.” Charlie Brown promised.

“We will.” Mrs Brown replied.

“Be good.” Mr Brown replied. The goodbyes were very much the same for the other 9 kids. 

Soon Ms Othmar and the ten trip-goers were getting their bags through customs and security. Charlie Brown, in a slightly embarrassing mishap, managed to trip the alarm because he was wearing a belt. His luggage on the other hand, was perfectly fine. Charlie Brown emerged on the other side with everything save for a blush, and a lack of dignity, yet he was still smiling. Everyone made it past the security gate fine, and also through customs, except for Pigpen, who was made to declare possession of his scissors. 

“But sir,”

“Scissors are potentially dangerous.” Said the guard.”

“But it’s in the luggage compartment. It would be impossible for me to reach it in flight.”

“Point taken.” “Could you tell me what you intend to use the scissors for?” The Guard demanded.

“Cutting paper to make art.” Pigpen replied. 

“Very well, you may proceed.” The guard relented. Pigpen continued with a grin just as sheepish as Charlie Brown’s.

“Just our luck, eh?” Charlie Brown said as Pigpen approached him.

“I think we can agree on that one.” Pigpen replied with a smile. Not long after, the last of the trip- goers had got through, and their luggage was put on the luggage carousel (don’t ask me, I’ve never been on a flight). They all walked up to the plane, and sat down. They were all in standard class, since this was a class trip. 

“You excited?” Linus asked Charlie Brown.

“Of course.” Charlie Brown replied. 

“I can’t wait until we actually get there.” Said Franklin, from the row behind. 

“I want to see the Theatre.” Schroeder, who was sitting next to him, added.

“I’m sure it will be fun.” Lucy added. 

“In the meantime, we have a 12 hour flight to keep us busy.” Said Peppermint Patty, who was sitting on the row opposite.

“What’s going on?” asked Janice, from the row behind.

“Oh, that’s the safety announcements.” Marcie explained. “I wouldn’t be too worried. The chance of an accident is about 1 in 400000.”

“We almost won the baseball game last week.” Charlie Brown reminded her.

“Oh, don’t be so pessimistic.” Marcie retorted. “Just enjoy yourself.”

“I’ll try.” Charlie Brown replied.

“Don’t forget to move your clocks forward, guys.” Linus reminded.

“7 hours, wasn’t it?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Yep.” Linus replied. 

“So that makes it 3pm in Hungary, right?”

“You’re right Charlie Brown.” Linus replied. “The plane should take off soon.” Not a minute later, the plane started taxiing down the runway, and it took off into the air.

Somewhere In Malta, Sally had woken up, left Eudora to tend to her plane, and headed for the meeting room. It was already 10am in Luqa (where the airport was), and Sally had seen a map telling her Santa Venera was directly North 5km, or about a 1hr walk. “This isn’t going to be much effort.” She thought to herself. Walking along the paths and Maltese sidewalks was refreshing, and very different to what she was used to seeing at home, and not only that, the Mediterranean sun was beaming down like a ray of warmth. Eventually she found herself in the streets of Santa Venera. Now all that was left was to find 4, Wignacourt Road. After a few moments she stumbled upon a short thin road with 4 houses on it. Walking up to the 4th house, she observed the porch. The porch overhung over the front door, which was red. In the upper left of the porch was a deftly hidden CCTV camera. Sally knew that this was probably the right house. Sally knocked on the door. 

“Who is it?” came a crackly radio message. Sally took the letter out of her pocket and displayed it in front of the camera. 

“Ok, I’ll get the door.” A few seconds later, the door was opened.

“Morning.” Sally said to her. “You must be Morag.”

“I am. And I take it you are Sally Brown?”

“I am indeed. You know of my brother, correct?”

“I write to him.” Morag replied. “Do you still talk to school buildings?”

“Oh, he wrote about that. I’ll have to lump him next time I see him.”

“I’m sure you will.” Morag responded, before putting her hands together. “Now that we’ve properly introduced ourselves, I think we should get down to business.”

“Right. Are you saying we should start the meeting now?” Sally asked.

“Well yes, seeing as you’re the last one here. Let’s begin.” Sally and Morag headed to the dining room. A number of people were already sitting there. The table was hexagonal and fitted six people on it. Morag then began the meeting.


	9. Kids with Guns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The SPY group meeting is interrupted.

“Well, I’m glad I could get you all together, and you all know why we’re gathered here today. As you can see, we have a special guest.” Morag said, gesturing at Sally. Sally just smiled.

“This is Sally Brown, from America.” She continued.

“Will she be replacing our late previous agent?” asked a voice with a heavy French accent.

“We’ll answer that question later.” Morag responded. “I think we should introduce ourselves first.”

“Well, you and I have already met.” Sally said to Morag.

“But you don’t know anyone else here.” Morag pleaded. “I’ll go clockwise.”

“On my left is Takui Akizaki, “He’s from Japan.”

“Konnichiwa. Hello.”

“On your right is Mimi Sonatelli, from Italy.” 

“Ciao. Have we met before?” Mimi asked. “I sung at Linus’ birthday party one time.”

“Oh, you did. I remember now.” Sally commented.

“On your left is José Quinto Ibarra.”

“Hola. I’m José, but Morag calls me Q.” Jose said in reply. “I am from Spain.”

“And last but not least, on my right, is Violette Honfleur.”

“Bonjour. I take it your brother ‘as told you about me.” 

“Yes he has. Shared family history, am I correct?”

“Yes you are.” Violette replied. 

“Now that the introductions are over, let’s begin.” Morag said. “Welcome to SPY, Sally.” She announced before they shook hands. “As you know, we have ourselves a very urgent situation on our hands.” Morag continued. “Sally, may we ask if you could tell us what you know about the case.” 

“On Sunday morning I found Charlotte Braun dead, and reported to you that the King’s shooter was stolen.” Sally began. “After that, I told my friends what happened, and then I made my way here when you told me to.” 

“Anything else?” Morag asked.

“No.” Sally replied. “I’d like to know more about the King’s Shooter, and why it’s important.” 

“I can explain.” Jose piped up. 

“I’m listening.” Sally said encouragingly.

“I was walking home from school in Barcelona, when this man handed it to me. I asked what it was and he told me that it was some key to somewhere, and to guard it with my life.” Jose explained. “I told Morag about it, and we trusted Charlotte Braun to keep it safe.” 

“The man was from the Spanish Secret Service.” Morag added, interrupting. “The Shooter is the key to the tomb of an ancient king, supposedly. The Spanish suspect it leads to some weapon, but MI6 believe its superstition.”

“How did you get contacts in MI6?” Sally asked.

“My dad works there.” Morag replied.

“Well that’s a lucky coincidence.” Sally replied.

“The entire organisation was built on coincidence.” Violette added, to Morag’s annoyance.

“What is it the key to again?” asked Sally.

“An ancient tomb, rumoured to contain a superweapon.” Jose replied. “According to the history book, at least.”

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

“Someone’s at the door.” Sally said.

“I’ll check the camera.” Violette said, getting up out of her seat. She checked the camera footage.

“It’s an older kid, with a machine gun.” Morag looked sullen as she heard the reply. Secretly she hoped this sort of thing would never happen. But nevertheless, she knew what was going to happen next if she chose to stand still.

“Okay, Violette, stick with me. The rest of you, upstairs.” Morag commanded, appearing to sound calm. Morag perched behind a wall, and drew her pistol. Violette left the camera post and did the same. The older kid started banging on the door. Morag did her best to hold her nerve, whilst Violette stood ghostly still. Sally on the other hand, was being ushered upstairs by Jose, Takui, and Mimi.   
“Are they going to be alright?” Sally asked.  
“They’ll be fine.” Takui replied.  
Morag waited for the inevitable moment. And then, the older kid whacked open the door. The kid shot instinctively in front of him before he realised that there wasn’t anybody there. He crept further into the building. Just as he was about to enter the meeting room…

*WHAM*

The kid stumbled forward. Morag held out her leg and he promptly tripped over it, landing on the floor headfirst with a THUD. The machine gun slid across the floor, coming to a rest under the table. 

“He’s out for the count.” Violette said. “I’ll grab the handcuffs.”

Morag went to the stairwell and called everyone down. It was only when she re-entered the meeting room that she saw someone else standing in the door. 

“And who might you be?” Morag asked rudely. Sally perked up. 

“Oh, that’s Eudora.” Sally answered. “She flew me here.” Eudora stood with her arms crossed. 

“And throws bricks in her spare time.” Sally quipped awkwardly, noticing the brick on the floor. 

“Glad to meet you, Eudora.” Morag said, before shaking her hand. 

The older kid on the floor began to stir. 

“Ugh, my head hurts.” He moaned. “And my gun’s under the table.” He tried to reach the gun, only to find that his hands were cuffed together.

“What are you guys playing at?” He complained.

“We’re… arresting you.” Morag answered.

“For what?”

“Trying to kill us.” Sally replied. Morag pointed a gun at his forehead.

“What’s up?” the kid asked, suddenly anxious.

“You’re going to sit in the chair and answer a few questions.” Morag replied sternly, whilst Violette ushered him into the chair. Morag also sat down, putting away her gun. 

Meanwhile, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, Charlie Brown and the others were sitting in the plane.

“Is there going to be any lunch on this plane?” Charlie Brown asked.

“There might be, but from what I’ve heard, it tastes terrible.” Linus replied.

“I’ll wait then.” Charlie Brown said. He looked at Linus, and saw that he looked concerned. “You okay, Linus?”

“No, I’m not.” Linus replied.

“Lovesick, eh Linus?” Lucy teased.

“No.” Linus said back at her. He looked over the window. They were high in the clouds, thousands of metres above the Atlantic. He thought for a while, immersing himself in happy thoughts and dreaming. Charlie Brown noticed Linus sleeping and decided to do the same. “It would definitely pass the time quicker.” He thought to himself.

Back in Malta, the interrogation was about to begin. 

“Give me your name.” Morag ordered.

“Marko Machaelis.” He responded.

“Age.”

“16.” Marko said.

“You look small for 16.” Sally remarked, standing not so far away.

“You look like pipsqueaks yourselves.” Marko teased. Morag slapped him. 

“Who do you work for?” Morag shouted. 

“I don’t work for anyone.” Marko pleaded.

“Lies!” Morag shouted. “For someone to bring an AK47 here, and to choose which house to fire in, that takes some help.”

“Okay, I’m not acting alone.”

“So, who is it?” 

“I won’t say.” Marko said.

Sally stormed up to Marko’s chair. 

“Listen, you.” Sally started. 

“Hold your horses, Sally.” Morag said, blocking her with her arm.

“No, I can handle this.” Sally brushed her aside. “I saw you a few days ago, walking down my street. And you’re not local either. I take it you were the one who murdered Charlotte Braun, and then chose to follow me here because I knew too much. 

“You knew way too much.” Marko retorted, giving himself away.

“So it’s true.” Sally said as she circled the chair. “In that case, where is the King’s Shooter?”

“I don’t have it.”

“Where is the King’s Shooter?” Morag ordered, pointing her gun towards him. Sally stood away.

“Packaged and parcelled to the boss.” Marko said.

“WHERE?” Morag shouted, finger resting on the trigger. 

“Um… Hungary?” Marko said nervously, bowing his head in shame.

“So, Budapest.” Sally replied.

Marko sighed, which told them all they needed to know. 

“Fine.” Morag said. “This interview is over.” She announced, putting away her gun. “All that’s left is to hand you over to the police.”

The door began to knock.

“I’ll get it.” Takui said, answering the door.

“Afternoon.” He said. Violette began to untie Marko from the chair.

“What proof do you have?” Marko barked. 

“The AK47 you brought with you and the bullet holes in the wall is proof enough.” Morag replied.

Sally, Morag and the others watched has he was taken into custody.

“Let’s go back inside.” Morag suggested. “We have some planning to do.” 

Sally, Morag, Eudora and the others sat back down at the meeting table.

“So, what’s the plan?” José asked. 

“We go to Budapest.” Morag said.

“All of us?” Sally asked.

“No. Just me, you and Eudora.” Morag replied. 

“What about the rest of us?” Violette asked.

“You guys can do what you like, but tell me first, I don’t want you doing anything reckless.” Morag answered.

“Good.” Mimi said. “I’m going to go home.”

“Q?” Morag asked.

“Yes?” Answered José, unimpressed by the nickname.

“Give Sally her toolkit.” José got up from the table and went the cupboard under the stairs.

“What’s in the toolkit?” Sally asked.

“You’ll find out.” Morag replied. José returned to the table.

“Sally, here is your things. There’s a Walther PPK 9mm, short, with silencer, a Zippo lighter, and a secure phone, a Nokia 6111, to be exact.” José said.

“The contacts are already entered into the phone.” Morag told her.

“Where did you get these?” Sally asked.

“Old stock from MI6.” Morag said. 

“You get a phone too, Eudora.” José said.

Sally put the gun, lighter, and phone in her coat pockets. Eudora did the same with hers.

“Follow me, Sally.” Morag said to her. “I’ve got something to show you.” Morag led Sally down a set of stairs into a wine cellar. They carried on beyond the wine cellar into a (amateurish) soundproofed room, with two targets at the end. 

“Like what you see?” Morag asked her.

“Uh huh. Looks like target practice.” Sally replied, smiling.

“Stand behind the back line.” Morag instructed.

“Okay.” Sally replied. Sally went over to the back line.

“Here’s some ear muffs.” Morag said. Morag pointed her pistol at the target, hitting it pretty much dead on. “I practice a lot.” She said to herself smugly.

“I can see that.” Sally replied. Sally took aim at the target. She fired, hitting the board, but missing the centre by some way.

“Not bad for someone who’s never touched a gun.” Morag commented. Morag shot again, this time hitting just above where she previously shot. Sally aimed once more. She fired and hit the target in the centre circle. 

“You have a natural talent for this, Sally.” Morag complimented.

“Thank you.” Sally replied. The game continued for a short while, but then Morag decided the game was up. 

“I’d love to play a little bit more, but we have to be going.” Morag said to her.

“Oh, yeah, Budapest.” Sally replied.

“You’re a good shot.” Morag said. They both walked back into the meeting room. 

“So what was that?” Eudora asked Sally.

“Firing range.” Sally replied. 

“How will we get to Budapest?” Eudora asked.

“You’ll fly us there.” Morag asked. “The flight’s not that long, is it?”

“I’ll need to do pre-flight checks and things.” Eudora warned. “Sayonara”. Eudora chimed at Takui. The three of them left and headed outside. They went to the bus stop and took a bus to the airport. When they got there, they went over to where Eudora’s plane was. It was still in exactly the same place it was left, except it had already been refuelled.

“You guys stick around for a while.” Eudora said. “I have to make sure this plane’s working.” Sally and Morag sat on the tarmac near the plane.

“What do you suppose we do whilst we wait?” Morag asked.

“I’m going to ring home, and tell them I’m alright. Sally replied. Sally entered the number on her phone. The phone began to ring.

“Hello?” Said a voice from the other side. 

“Oh, hi Mom. It’s Sally.”

“Oh, thank heavens.” Mrs Brown replied. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah I’m fine. I’m in safe hands.” Sally said, whilst smiling at Morag.

“Are you going to be back soon?” Mrs Brown asked.

“Not yet, but I might run in to my brother on my travels.”

“I’m sure he’ll tell us when he sees you.” Mrs Brown said.

“Bye, for now.” Sally said, hanging up.

“You didn’t tell them anything about Hungary, did you?” Morag asked.

“I said I might run into my brother.” Sally clarified.

“Isn’t Charlie Brown at home?” Morag asked.

“Him and his friends are all on a field trip to Budapest. Their plane will take off any minute.” Sally explained.

“Well, that’s going to be a nice surprise.” Morag commented, with a hint of sarcasm.

It took until 4pm for the Pre-flight checks to finish. Sally and Morag boarded the plane. There was only room for two in the cockpit, so Morag sat in one of the passenger seats.  
“Ready for take-off?” Eudora asked.

“Ready!” Sally and Morag replied. Eudora turned on the comms. “This is Elm 1, requesting permission for take-off.”

“Permission granted.” Came the reply on the airwaves. Eudora applied the throttle and the plane began to taxi down the runway, before gaining speed and taking off.   
The flight took 2 and a half hours, before landing at Budapest at around 6:30pm. Eudora parked the plane at the hangar, before joining Sally and Morag as they all left the airport.  
Not far from the Airport, Morag hailed a Taxi.

“Evening.” Said the driver, in a thick Hungarian accent. “Where to?”

“The Nearest cheap hotel, please.” Morag answered.

“Certainly.” The driver replied. The taxi drove to Budapest City centre, before stopping at a cheap chain hotel in the city centre. Morag paid the Taxi fare to the driver before the three of them exited and headed for the hotel door.

Inside the hotel, the three of them made their way to the reception desk.

“Room for three, please.” Morag asked the lady.

“Do you have a reservation?” the receptionist asked.

“No.” Morag replied.

“We have a room spare.” The receptionist told them. “How long will you be staying?”

“2 nights.” Morag said.

“That will be €90, please.” The receptionist demanded. Morag reached into her wallet and handed over the money. “Your room is number 306.” Said the receptionist, happily. The three of them walked towards the elevator and went up to the third floor. As they walked through the corridor, Sally asked a question that was on everyone’s minds.  
“Morag,” she said, beckoning her attention. “How do you have that kind of…?”

“Shh!” Morag said. “You should be careful not to speak too loud in a place like this, and to answer your question, My dad likes to play Baccarat, and he’s very good at it. Sometimes he shares a bit of it with me. The three of them walked into their hotel room. The three of them decided to eat some of the food that they had taken with them from Malta. After that, they decided to have a nice long sleep. They all then slept in the three beds.


	10. The Art Gallery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie Brown and friends begin their trip in earnest. Morag, Sally and Eudora begin looking for anything suspicious.

Wednesday 30th March

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

Charlie Brown woke with a start. The alarm on his watch was going off. It was almost 3am, and the plane was nearly about to land. Everyone else around him was asleep. He knew he had set the alarm so he wouldn’t miss the plane landing, but at this time, it was so dark that it was almost impossible to see the landing outside the window. Charlie Brown looked around him. Everyone else was still sleeping. He saw Linus next to him, fast asleep, and nudged him awake.

“Hey, Linus.” He whispered.

“What is it, Charlie Brown?” Linus asked, sleepily.

“We’re about to land.” Charlie Brown said softly.

“That’s nice.” Linus said, yawning. Their murmuring made Lucy begin to stir, and sure enough, Lucy woke up, and her expression looked very sour.

“It’s 3am. How dare you ruin my beauty sleep.” Lucy said. Even though she hadn’t shouted at Linus, her comments had roused the rest of the entourage. 

“Charlie Brown says we’re about to land.” Linus said quietly.

“Oh, right.” Lucy replied sarcastically. After a short amount of time, the murmuring and bickering woke Ms Othmar.

“What’s going on?” she yawned. 

“We’re about to land.” Marcie said. “See, the seatbelt sign’s on.” She noticed, pointing at the seatbelt sign. Everyone on the trip was already wearing their seatbelts, so they looked outside of the window. It was dark outside, but those sitting next to the window could see the landing lights. The plane pitched downwards towards the runway, before landing smoothly without a hitch.

The Trip-goers then went to the terminal and collected their luggage from the baggage hold. The Trip-goers were all exhausted, but eventually they dragged both themselves and their luggage onto the minibus that Ms Othmar had organised for them. The minibus drove them to a hotel not far from the city centre, at which point they staggered off the bus and walked into the reception, standing there whilst Ms Othmar handled all of the booking arrangements and paperwork. The lot of them each went to their respective rooms. Charlie Brown, Linus and Five ended up in one room, Schroeder, Franklin, and Pigpen ended up in another, whilst the girls all slept in one large room. Charlie Brown tucked himself into bed ready for the day ahead.

Early that morning, just after 8am, Sally, Morag, and Eudora had already woken up and had already walked to a café down the road from the hotel. It was a quiet place, with a mixture of contemporary and antique aesthetics. At this time of day the café was pretty much empty, as it had only just opened. The three of them sat on a round table in the far corner of the café, with cups of hot chocolate, and began to discuss their situation. 

“So where do you guys think this ‘King’s Shooter’ is then?” Sally asked. 

“We don’t know.” Morag replied. “Though I can guess that man Marko was one link in a much bigger chain.”

“So we can discount any small businesses such as here.” Sally said.

“Probably.” Morag responded. “But I’m sure none of the larger businesses will take kindly to us poking our noses in their affairs.”

“Well no. not unless we had a few connections.” Sally suggested.

“I’m not sure how well that would work.” Eudora said, somewhat defensively.

“Maybe, seeing as it’s only our first day in the city, we might as well do a bit of exploring. Sally suggested.

“You mean sightsee?” Morag asked.

“Partially. But we’re not going to find the culprit until we know how to get to them.” Sally explained. 

“That’s a good point.” Morag said. “What else should we do?”

“I say we should learn the language a bit.” Eudora suggested. “I don’t think anyone here’s going to speak English.”

“Do you have a phrasebook?” Sally asked.

“Yes.” Eudora replied.

“Is it accurate?” Morag asked.

“Yes.” Eudora answered, slightly annoyed.

“We should probably get learning then.” Morag said to them.

Whilst the three friends practised their Hungarian, Charlie Brown and the rest of the students were eating breakfast in the hotel cafeteria. Charlie Brown was having cold cereal, with milk, as well as toast. Even though there was plenty of fresh, European options, Charlie Brown was perfectly happy to stick with what he was used to. Linus sat across the table from him, eating a croissant. Charlie Brown then asked Linus about the day’s plans. 

“Linus, what do you think about this Art Gallery we’re going to?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never even heard of it.” Linus replied. 

“Do you have any idea where it is?” Charlie Brown asked.

“No, but I think the teacher knows.” Linus answered. Just then Ms Othmar showed up in the middle of the cafeteria.

“All right class.” She spoke. “Today, we will be seeing the art in the Hungarian National Gallery.” 

“Where is the gallery?” Charlie Brown asked.

“It’s in Buda Castle, Charlie Brown.” She replied.

“The castle thing sounds really cool.” Pigpen commented. 

“I’d say it’s more interesting than the art.” Lucy said.

“It’s worth it, though.” Schroeder said to her.

“Especially if you’re here.” Lucy said. Schroeder just frowned in response. Eventually, once everyone had finished their breakfast, Ms Othmar led them out of the hotel and they began to travel to the castle. 

Having brushed up on some basic Hungarian, Sally, Morag and Eudora made their way out of the Café and started walking through the streets of Budapest. As they were walking, a minibus full of schoolchildren went past. Sally looked to try to see if Charlie Brown was there, but the bus was going too fast for her to distinguish between anyone. Sally watched as it drove out of her sight.

“Come on, Sally.” Eudora said, noticing she was lagging behind. A little later, as they came to the junction…

“Do you guys actually know where you’re going?” Eudora asked.

“Do you?” Morag asked in return.

“No, but we could do with a map.” Eudora suggested.

“We’ll get one where we can find one.” Morag said.

“I’m sure there’s a tourist information board near here.” Sally said calmingly, as they continued to walk. Eventually they got to a tourist information board, where they bought themselves a map. the writing on the map was small, and difficult to read. 

“We need to find a place where we can read this map in peace, and without it being ruffled by the breeze.” Morag suggested.

As the minibus pulled up to the Castle car park, Charlie Brown sat and looked at the castle through the window. The building stood with grand repose, and Charlie Brown imagined what it would be like to live in the castle, if only for a few seconds, as the minibus came to a halt. As everyone filed off of the bus, Ms Othmar counted everyone and began to proceed to the entrance of the gallery. The children chatted among themselves.

“Enjoying it Charlie Brown?” Linus asked.

“I’m liking the Castle.” Charlie Brown replied.

“I can’t wait to see the art.” Schroeder replied. I’m hoping for there to be some music too. 

“In an Art Gallery?” Linus asked, puzzled. Schroeder shrugged and hope someone would change the subject. At that point, Ms Othmar beckoned the students towards the inside of the gallery. 

Inside the gallery, there was a selection of paintings and sculptures, built and drawn by Hungarian Artists. Among these were paintings by Joszef Borsos, Karoly Marko the Elder, and Tivadar Csontvary Kosztka, and sculptures by Istvan Ferenczy and Gyula Donath. The Trip-goers stared at the paintings and art work, and tried their best to stay interested. As the entourage passed by the National Szechenyi Library however, Linus was intrigued about the books within. He made his way towards the library but he was halted by one of the staff members. 

“I’m sorry young man, but the Library is closed.” He said to him. 

“Why?” asked Charlie Brown who had joined him. 

“The Library is off limits to members of the public.” The staff member rebuked. 

“Okay, so what’s that person doing in there?” Charlie Brown asked, gesturing towards a man, dressed in a black suit, and sunglasses, who was peering into an old history book. This man looked markedly different to any staff member or official.

“Don’t ask questions, now go away.” The staff member said. 

“Ok fine, I’ll go look at something else.” Linus said, with Charlie Brown following him back to the rest of the group. As they rejoined the entourage, Linus said something to Charlie Brown.

“You’re not one for backtalk like that, Charlie Brown.” Linus remarked. “What’s gone into you?”

“I’m not sure.” Charlie Brown replied. “I think this whole Marble thing has got to me.”

“And?” Linus asked.

“Well, that guy looked suspicious to me.” Charlie Brown. 

“He could just be a manager, or an executive.” Linus suggested. 

“I guess.” Charlie Brown said. “When’s lunch?”

“Soon.” Linus assured. Charlie Brown and Linus continued to walk with the group. Once the group had finished exploring the gallery, the kids went outside, back onto the tour bus and went to a nearby café, on the other side of the river, to eat some Lunch.

At the Café, with help from Ms Othmar, the children all bought sandwiches and drinks and sat down. Charlie Brown and Linus tucked into their sandwiches. On another table, Pig-Pen was spinning his scissors through his fingers, when suddenly, it flew out of his fingers. Surprisingly, he didn’t hear the expected clang of it hitting the ground. Ms Othmar scolded him for being so careless. Pig-pen looked down at his sandwich in shame. Charlie Brown’s tasted of ham that was no longer fresh, regardless he suffered his way through the sandwich and drank his orange juice. Linus looked around at the table on his left. One of the people on that table looked back at him. “Hi, Linus.” She said, smiling. Linus ignored her and turned around. 

“Who was that?” Charlie Brown asked.

“I don’t know.” Linus replied. “It sounded like Sally, but…” Linus turned round again. Sally was still looking at him, somewhat unimpressed. “Sally? What are you doing here?” Linus asked.

“Saving the world.” Sally replied nonchalantly. 

“I might have guessed.” Linus replied in a sarcastic tone. Charlie Brown sat still, surprised.

“You okay, Big Brother? Sally asked. 

“Yeah, I’m okay, I think.” Charlie Brown said, panicking. Morag chose this moment to get up from her seat and greet Charlie Brown.

“You must be Charlie Brown. Hi there.” Morag said. 

“Hello.” Charlie Brown said. “I guess you must be Morag.” 

“And you’d be right, I am Morag. I appreciate the letters you send me, even if you smudge the pen.”

“The difference now, is that I know the purpose of the letters themselves.” Charlie Brown added.

“Yes. Only a few people do. But it’s useful anyway, even when they don’t.” Morag responded. 

“What are you talking about?” Linus asked. 

“You know those superspies from those movies?” Charlie Brown said, gesturing with his eyes. 

“I understand, I think.” Linus replied. “So how well is your ‘mission’ going?” Charlie Brown asked her.

“Not much info so far, but we have to keep at it. Let me know if you find anything of interest. We’re staying at a chain hotel on Raday Street.” After that, she left them and returned to her table. Charlie Brown turned back round to the table. Lucy, Schroeder, and one or two others had been focusing on the conversation, although thankfully, Ms Othmar was preoccupied with the soup she was eating. “Eat up, children.” She said, unaware that half of them had already finished their sandwiches. 

“Well, that was interesting.” Lucy commented.

“Yes, but can we keep it a secret between us?” Linus asked. 

“Oh sure. It’s not like anybody’s going to kill you or anything.” Lucy replied. Linus perished any thoughts of that scenario and continued eating his sandwich.


	11. Digging for Clues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morag and Sally search Buda Castle for clues whilst Charlie Brown and friends head back to their hotel.

Over at the other table, Morag, Sally and Eudora were planning their next move. “So what have we got so far?” Morag asked the group.

“Not much.” Eudora replied.

“Well, if we look at the map we bought.” Sally suggested, bringing the map out of her coat pocket. “I can pinpoint several places of interest.” “Does anyone have a pen?” 

“No.” Morag said.

“Not me.” Eudora replied.

“Hey, big brother, do you have a pen?”

“Well, I have a pencil, and I’ll give it to you if you ask for it nicely.

“Please can I borrow your pencil?” Sally asked nicely.

“Here, but don’t lose it.” Charlie Brown said, as he handed her pencil. Sally drew a large circle around her places of interest.

“Well I have on the map: Buda Castle, The OTP Bank network, and Equinux Computing HQ, as well as a few others.

“Equinux?” Eudora asked. “You think my dad could be part of this?”

“I don’t know.” Sally replied. “But a company as large as theirs is definitely a candidate for investigating.”

“I suggest, Eudora,” Morag began. “That you should go in to Equinux HQ and talk to your dad. Tell us if you find anything.

“When should I be back?” Eudora asked.

“8pm, at the Hotel.” Morag replied.

“Take the map with you.” Sally replied. “We’ll be checking the castle for anything suspicious.” She said. And Eudora went on her way. Charlie Brown wondered what Eudora was doing splitting up from the group, but he said nothing. By now, everyone had finished their lunch, and the children made their way back to the minibus. The minibus ride back to their hotel was a short one, which was largely uneventful. Charlie Brown looked out of the window, wondering what was going on. He wondered if…

“You okay, Charlie Brown?” Linus asked.

“Uh, I think I am.” Charlie Brown. 

“Charlie Brown, are you worried about Sally?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Of course I am.” Linus replied. “I’m just better at hiding it than you are.” Charlie Brown let out a light chuckle. It was welcoming to Charlie Brown to hear Linus speak his true feelings for his sister. He knew Linus actually liked her, even though he doesn’t show it. Evidently though, Linus was equally worried about her as he was, and that in itself was equally worrying. Charlie Brown began to quiver. Linus saw this and tried to reassure him. “What’s wrong, Charlie Brown?” 

“Well I’m worried about her and you’re worried about her, and the fact that you’re worried is making me worried because you worrying means that something bad might actually happen.” 

“Would you like to hold on to my blanket?” Linus suggested.

“Sure.” Linus handed his blanket to him and Charlie Brown leant against it. This seemed to calm him down, as Lucy watched in astonishment from the row behind, she had seen and heard everything. This continued for the rest of the journey, as the bus came to a halt outside the hotel. Charlie Brown returned the blanket to Linus and they stepped off the bus. The lot of them checked in to their hotel and went to their hotel room. In their hotel room, Charlie Brown, Linus, and Five sat and chatted whilst playing with a set of cards Five had brought.

“I heard you guys on the bus.” Five said. “What’s going on?” He asked.

“You did?” Charlie Brown replied.

“Well, Sally, in her “Saving the World” business, has turned up here in Budapest.”

“Oh, that could be bad, for either them or us.” Five replied, uncertainly. “What could they possibly be saving the world from?”

“Do you know what we’re doing tonight?” Charlie Brown asked, changing the subject. 

“I don’t know. I didn’t read the itinerary. Five replied. “Do you remember what we were doing, Linus?”

“I think tonight, we are going to go to the Cinema.” Linus replied. “They’re going to show us a Hungarian language film to introduce us.”

“Does it have subtitles?” Five asked.

“We’ll have to find out.” Linus replied.

“I hope it does.” Five replied. “None of us know a single word of Hungarian.” The three continued their card game.

Morag and Sally walked to Buda Castle themselves to investigate their first point of interest. At the castle, whilst looking around, they stopped close to where the National Library was. 

“Hey, Morag.” Sally said with enthusiasm.

“What?” Morag replied.

“Maybe the library could give us some clues.” Sally suggested. The pair walked over to the library entrance. 

“Is the library open?” Sally said. “A könyvtár nyitva van?” Morag said, flicking through Eudora’s phrasebook.

“It is open now.” The staff member replied. “What are you looking for?”

“We’re looking for a history book.” Morag answered. “Incidentally, has anything suspicious or out of the ordinary happened today?

“Funny you say that, because this man in a black suit and sunglasses asked me to close the library whilst he was in there. Apparently it was done in advance, but I did have to turn away this one boy in a yellow shirt.”

“Do you know who the man works for?” 

“Yes but I can’t tell you that. That would be against our confidentiality policy. Unless you have any special permission from a higher authority, I can’t help you.”

Morag and Sally turned to face each other for a second.

“Does your outfit have any recognition or official authority we could use?” Sally whispered. 

“No, and it’s our outfit, might I remind you.” Morag replied. 

“Sir,” Sally asked. “Did this boy have a stripe on his shirt?”

“Yes.” Replied the staff member. “I recall also that he was bald headed.

Thank you. Sally replied, before turning to face Morag.

“Uh Oh.” Sally uttered. 

“What?” Morag said, as they walked away from the library.

“I think Charlie Brown might be in trouble.” Sally said.

“What makes you think that?” Morag asked, in disbelief.

“Well, the staffer said that he was turned away, maybe the shady guy saw him and… I don’t know… maybe he suspects him or something.” 

“That sounds rather paranoid.” Morag replied dismissively. “How would they know how to find him?” 

“They found your base, didn’t they?” Sally said.

“Touché.” Morag responded. They continued to walk for a bit before Morag stopped.

“Hmm, I feel like we’re forgetting something.” She said, thoughtfully.

“The library book?” Sally suggested.

“Yeah, that was it.” Morag replied, sheepishly. The two then went back to the library to look for the history book. The History book in questioned mentioned several interesting things about its past, from its beginnings in the Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan, as well as the imprisonment of Vlad the Impaler, the rule of their First King, St. Stephen I, and the Mongol invasion in 1241, all the way to the present day. Satisfied, they left the library, thanked the staff, and went on their way.

“What do we do now?” Sally asked. “We didn’t find any clues at all.”

“We can rule out the castle as a base.” Morag said, with an exaggerated sense of optimism. “The bank is an entire network, which’ll take a whole day, so we can’t do that now.”

“Should we watch a movie instead? You’ve certainly earned one.” Sally said.

“That seems like shirking our responsibilities.” Morag pondered aloud. 

“Well, you gave Eudora the map, and neither of us know where Equinux is.” Sally replied. 

“Yeah, let’s go. What film?” 

“Uh, whatever’s there?” Sally said. And they headed towards the cinema. The cinema was in a shopping centre around 1.6 miles south of where they were.


	12. Equinux Computing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eudora heads for her father's business, and discovers a chilling secret.

Meanwhile, Eudora had finally made it to Equinux headquarters, on the north side of Budapest. The address of her father’s business seemed to rest at the main Railway station. Slightly confused, she went inside and had a look for it. Failing to see any conclusive evidence of its existence, she went over to the reception desk at the train station. 

“Hello. Do you know of a business called Equinux Computing?” Eudora asked, not expecting a response.

“Yes we do. If you take stairs down to the metro, there’s a door to your left that leads to a lift. It goes down. The place you look for is there.” Eudora nodded. She headed down the escalator in the station and found a door on her left. With trepidation, she opened the door and headed for the lift. The lift was slow, but eventually it stopped, and the doors opened. In front of her was some of the most pristine walls in existence, with the logo of Equinux emblazoned across the front of the reception desk. Eudora walked to the front of the reception desk.

“Hello, how can I help you?” asked the receptionist, slightly confused as to why a child would find her way here on her own. 

“My name is Eudora Elm, is my father currently in?” 

“And your father is…” asked the receptionist, on autopilot.

“Terence Elm.” Eudora answered.

“Uh… Terence is here.” She said, fiddling through notes. “He’s very busy though, so don’t expect him to be too happy. Eudora waited patiently whilst the receptionist dialled his office. 

“Hello, this is Terence Elm, what is it now?” came the voice from the phone. 

“A Miss Eudora Elm wishes to see you.” Said the receptionist.   
“Yes. Show her in.” the receptionist ended the call. She got out of her chair and motioned for Eudora to follow her.”

“Follow me.” She said to Eudora. The pair walked down a hallway into a long corridor. At the end of the hall way was a small staircase leading to the head offices. Eudora observed her surroundings. The perfect order of everything made her feel slightly uncomfortable. Inside the head offices was a small waiting room with mahogany walls and green leather chairs, and a brass plated door, reading “Terence Elm” in block capitals. The receptionist knocked twice softly. “Miss Eudora to see you, sir.” She announced to him. 

“Come in.” Terence replied. The receptionist opened the door and beckoned Eudora to go inside.

Inside the office, Eudora saw the well-polished walls, laden with bookshelves and sitting at a desk furnished with ornate items, her father, looking at her, with an air of surprise. His hair was black, like Eudora’s, but it was parted down the middle at the front and the back of his hair reached down to his neck. His face shone a shade of pink, a shade redder than the rest of his family, but the reasons for that were evident. Terence, or Terry as he was known at home, was a heavy drinker. Eudora already knew this, but an eagle eyed observer would have been able to observe an empty scotch glass that rested on Terry’s desk. 

“What are you doing here?” Terry asked. “You know I didn’t want you to go on that school trip?”

“I didn’t go on the school trip, if that’s what you’re asking.” Eudora replied.

“Then how did you get here?” he asked, sitting down at his desk. Eudora grabbed a nearby chair and sat down. 

“I took the plane and flew it here. You gave me a flying lesson specifically for it. So I used my knowledge and got here.” Eudora replied. “The plane should still be in the airport.”

“Why did you do it? Flying a plane like that with your level of experience is extremely dangerous.” Terry said firmly.

“I had a friend who needed my help. She had something important that she needed to take care of.”

“How important?” Terence asked.

“Very.” Eudora replied. “She wouldn’t tell me what it was though.”

“Interesting.” Terence thought, somewhat aware Eudora wasn’t telling the full story.

“Did she say anything else?” 

“Well she mentioned that a mutual friend of ours had died. It was quite a shock at first.” 

“Charlotte Braun.” Terry thought to himself, faking a shocked, sullen expression. Eudora looked at him.

“You wouldn’t have known her, given how absent you are from my life.” Eudora responded.

“Did you miss me?” Terence asked, softening his tone.

“Sometimes I do. You never tell me anything about your job or where you go. I didn’t expect to find you here of all places.”

“Well there’s a good reason for me to be here.” Terry said, reaching into his desk. Opening the drawer, he took out what looked like a large marble, with an ornate golden pattern inside.

“What is it?” Eudora said in what sounded like amazement. 

“This…” Terence said “…is the King’s Shooter.” He announced. “Supposedly it is the key to a lot of power, which I intend to use for my computers.” 

Eudora looked at him sceptically, and was about to speak when she heard a knock on the door. Terence got up and opened the door, putting the King’s Shooter in his pocket.

“Ah, Orsinov, what’s the news?” 

“Our search at the Library provided a few key points of interest, but nothing concrete.” 

“Interesting. Do Continue.” Terry said. Eudora listened in more closely.

“However, a young boy in a yellow shirt seemed to suspect me. I fear he may be a member of SPY.” 

“Very well. It seems SPY are getting close. I want him out of the picture. I don’t care whether you kill him or capture him, but I don’t want any tracks left uncovered. Got it?” Terry answered. “And as for your team, I will be convening a meeting with them very shortly."

“Understood.” Orsinov replied. Eudora suddenly became very concerned. Orsinov went on his way and Terry peered into his office.

“You didn’t hear me just now, right?” Terry asked.

“No.” Eudora lied.

“Good. I have some urgent business to attend to, don’t go away, I’ll be back in an hour.” Terry said, shutting the door firmly behind him. 

“Crap.” Thought Eudora “If I don’t let Morag know, then Charlie Brown’s a dead man.” Eudora took her phone out of her pocket and slid it open. The time read 14:36. Eudora went through her contacts, trying to find Morag. However, the call was not going through. After about a minute of trying, Eudora realised that there was no signal, and she was going to have to go above ground to contact Morag and Sally. Eudora got up and opened the door. There was a guard outside the door.

“Mr Elm did not permit you to leave.” The guard said. “Stay inside.” The guard closed the door and locked it with a key. Eudora was locked inside for the next hour, unable to escape, and with no distractions in the mean-time. 

Elsewhere, Sally and Morag had just arrived at the Cinema. 

“How many films do they have here?” Sally asked. 

“Quite a few.” Morag replied. “Are you interested in any of them?”

“If there’s an English language one I’ll watch that.” Sally replied. “Even though Linus and co are watching a Hungarian one.” 

Morag suddenly twigged why Sally had suggested that. “So that’s why you’re here!” she said with a smirk. “How did you know?” 

“I was nosy and checked my brother’s copy of the itinerary.” Sally admitted. Sally then drew Morag’s attention to the list of films available to watch, after eventually picking one that suited them, they went into the cinema, and, like all responsible cinemagoers, switched off their phones.

Time passed whilst Eudora was locked in Terry’s office. Periodically, Eudora would check the time on her phone. 15:07, 15:14, 15:22, it read. Eudora got tired of waiting and began to look for ways to escape, not that there were any, this was an office, the air vents leading to the surface were too thin for anyone to crawl through, Eudora observed, and there were no secret passageways or hidden doors to discover. Even though she tried to find them, Eudora was careful not to displace any of the ornaments, books or documents. Shortly afterward the guard, anticipating Terry’s return, unlocked the door. Seemingly the guard did not want to have to explain his actions. The guard stood firmly while Terry walked past him and opened the door. Eudora faked a smile as he sat down. Terry began to talk to Eudora.

“So, did you read any of the books on the shelf?” Terry asked.

“No.” Eudora replied, smiling. “Can I go now?” 

“Why would you want to go?” Terry asked.

“Well, it just…” Eudora began. “I came with friends and they’re going to be worried if I don’t come back, and we booked a hotel room to stay in, so I can’t let that go to waste.” 

“I understand, but promise to come and see me tomorrow, I’ll give you a tour of the building. That’ll be nice won’t it?” Terry said.

“Yeah it will.” Eudora replied, sincerely. Eudora had wanted to see the whole building for a long time. “See yah”. Eudora said as she made her way out. Eudora tried to remember the way back to reception. After a minute or two, she found the reception and made her way back to the elevator. After reaching the top of the elevator and making her way out of the train station, she took out her phone and tried to ring Morag a second time. Again the call bounced, even though the signal was full. Giving up on calling her she tried to text her instead, however, whilst she was texting, she tripped on an uneven paving slab, and fell over, letting go of her phone in the process. The phone into the air, before bouncing off the pavement and falling into a drain. Eudora heard the sound of the splash of the phone falling over the feeling of pain in her grazed hands. “Dang, what am I going to tell Morag?” She thought as she got up from her fall. She pondered for a few moments, and, realizing she had no idea where she was or any way to contact her, she went off in the direction of the hotel, hoping and praying it would all end okay.


	13. Standoff at the Cinema

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie Brown winds up in a very tight spot. Will he survive?

It was 4:45 pm, Sally and Morag’s film had finished by now and Sally and Morag had left the screen room. Morag turned on her phone. To her surprise, Morag saw that there was a missed call from Eudora. Morag tried to ring her back but it didn’t work. At this point, Morag began to look concerned. 

“Something wrong?” Sally asked.

“Eudora tried to ring me, but now I can’t reach her. Something seems off.” Morag said. She looked around where she was. She noticed a man in a suit idly resting against a wall, for no particular reason, holding an open cup of lemonade. The man had short dark hair, and pale skin, it was none other than Orsinov, whom Eudora had heard about during the meeting with Mr Elm. 

Sally leaned in towards Morag. “That guy looks shady to me.”

“Me too.” “We should wait. Now shut up.” Morag replied. They didn’t have to wait very long. Charlie Brown and the rest of the trip-goers entered the cinema foyer whilst Morag and Sally stood on the sidelines. Orsinov got up off the wall as Charlie Brown approached him, before ‘tripping’ over his own foot, spilling lemonade all over Charlie Brown. Ms Othmar went to buy some popcorn.

“Oh I’m terribly sorry.” Orsinov said. Charlie Brown took a few moments to get his bearings, before heading to the men’s toilets to wash his shirt. Shortly afterwards Orsinov acknowledged the mess on his own shirt before heading into the men’s toilets. 

“You see that?” Sally asked Morag.

“He seemed to trip rather suspiciously.” Morag said. Morag and Sally went towards where Charlie Brown had gone and pressed their ears against the wall, while the others looked on.

“What’s going on?” asked Linus, walking over to them.

“We think something’s wrong.” Sally said.

“But we don’t know it yet.”

Meanwhile, Charlie Brown was washing his shirt in the sink, and then dried it out with the hair dryer. Orsinov had done the same but quicker. Just as Charlie Brown was about to leave, Orsinov pulled out his pistol, and pointed it at him. Charlie Brown stopped. “You, get back against the wall”. Charlie Brown, terrified for his life, did so.

“I know who you work for.” Orsinov snarled at Charlie Brown. “Tell me what you know about The King’s Shooter.” 

“I don’t know anything, honest.” Charlie Brown answered.

“Tell me or I shoot!” Shouted Orsinov. “What do you know?” he said harshly, his hand wavering with the gun pointed at Charlie Brown. 

“Why are you doing this?” Charlie Brown cried. Morag heard the exchange from the other side. She began to sneak her way in through the door. 

“My boss thinks removing SPY from the equation will be critical to the success of his mission.” Orsinov explained angrily. “Tell me what you know about SPY, agent, or I will kill you.”

“He knows nothing.” Morag said with a wry smile, pointing a gun at Orsinov’s head. 

“Who are you?” Orsinov asked, keeping his gun pointed at Charlie Brown.

“I’m too smart to giveaway my name that easily.” Morag said. “It shows how little you know about us and what we do that you pick on the first person that seems even vaguely interested in what you are doing.” 

“What are you doing here? I” Orsinov asked, seething. 

“It’s funny you ask that, because I have two choices here. Either I kill you here and now, or Charlie Brown dies at your hands. I can’t let that happen however. So my only recourse is to shoot you to save my friend.”  
“My gun is loaded. I will shoot!” Orsinov shouted.

“Mine is too.” Morag said. “However, your insistence on pointing it at my friend just gives me more reason to stop you, so I suggest you put it away.”

“My Boss’ Orders are to kill this man.” Orsinov said.

“I don’t care.” Morag said. “I will keep him alive, even if it means killing you.”

“You? I doubt you’ve ever killed anyone.” Orsinov chuckled. “You couldn’t kill me even if you tried!” he jeered, wiggling his trigger finger.   
"Don’t bet on it." Morag observed Orsinov’s hand movements and promptly focused her aim.

*Bang*. 

Orsinov fell to the ground, Charlie Brown covered his ears at the sound of the gun firing. Even though Morag’s gun was silenced, it was still quite loud. Morag looked at the gunshot wound in Orsinov’s head for a moment, before putting her gun away.

“Come on, Charlie Brown.” Morag said, helping him up. The two of them walked slowly out of the men’s toilets. When Linus saw that Charlie Brown was alive, he was visibly relieved. 

“Are you okay?” Linus said to Charlie Brown, walking over to him. 

“I’m a bit shaken.” Charlie Brown said. “But other than that, I’m okay. It was scary though.” 

“No kidding.” Linus replied. At that moment Ms Othmar returned with 5 boxes of Popcorn. “Here you go. ½ a box of popcorn for everyone.” “Are you guys all right? I heard a bang somewhere.”  
“I’m sure that was just a sound glitch.” Morag said nonchalantly. 

“Who are you? You’re not in my class.” Ms Othmar asked.

“I’m Morag, I’m a mutual friend. I’m sure I’ll see you again at some point.” Morag said. “Anyway the movie I came to see finished a while ago, so I must be going. As Morag and Sally were leaving, Sally put a note into Linus’ pocket. Linus ignored it, assuming it was just a love letter. The Trip goers went to see their film, whilst Morag and Sally left. As they were walking back to their hotel, “So what happens when the Cinema Staff run into the shady guy?” 

“Probably nothing.” Morag replied confidently. As far as she saw it, it looked enough like a suicide to not arouse suspicion. They continued on home. After taking the nearest metro train to Kalvin ter, they headed toward their hotel. Once they were there, they checked in and went to their room. Once they were there, they were surprised to see that Eudora was already there.

“You’re early.” Morag said to Eudora.

“Yes. What happened out there?” “Is Charlie Brown okay?”

“Charlie Brown is fine.” Morag said. Eudora was on tenterhooks up to now, but she now could relax. “What happened when you went to Equinux, then? Morag asked, noticing Eudora’s body language. 

“Well,” began Eudora, “I went to the main Train Station, went down the escalator, then I turned left into a side door and went down an elevator shaft. Then I got to the Equinux reception, where they took me to my dad’s office.

“Well that seems suspicious.” Morag said.

“Yeah, and then my dad showed me this priceless marble called the King’s Shooter.” 

“Well that confirms it.” Sally and Morag both thought, as they let Eudora continue to speak.

“After that my dad left for a meeting.” Eudora continued. “I overheard him talking to a man named Orsinov, and he was told to kill or capture Charlie Brown.” “I tried to ring you, but I had no signal.” “I tried to ring you again, but then I tripped over a slab and my phone went down the drain.”

Morag was slightly annoyed, but Sally set her straight.

“I take it that it was Orsinov you killed?” Sally asked. 

“Must be.” Morag replied.

“I think, in future.” Morag began, “we need to set up a proper communications channel between us and Charlie Brown."

“I already slipped Linus my number.” Sally interjected. Morag smirked, but was also secretly quite impressed at the same time.

About an hour later, the trip-goers had just finished watching their film. Most of the children were left a bit disappointed, as the lack of subtitles meant they had a hard time following what was going on. Charlie Brown however was just happy to be alive. Linus and Charlie Brown continued to chat.

“You Okay?” Linus asked.

“Yeah I’m okay now.” Charlie Brown replied. “Moving on,” Charlie Brown said, “What did you think about the movie?” 

“It was okay.” Linus said as they were walking to the bus. “The chase scenes were good, but the other scenes could have done with subtitles, like everyone else seems to think.”   
“Me too.” Charlie Brown nodded in agreement, before he and Linus stepped on the bus. As Linus sat down, he noticed something was in his back pocket, and he took it out.

“What’s that?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Looks like a phone number.” Linus replied. “Sally must have put this in my pocket before she left.” “I’m not sure what she’s trying to achieve though. I don’t even have a phone.” For the rest of the journey, Charlie Brown reflected on how he nearly died. Some of these thoughts he shared with Linus, other thoughts he kept to himself. As he and Linus got off of the bus at the hotel at which they were staying, Linus offered to play a game of snap, which Charlie Brown accepted. At the dinner table in the hotel bar, Charlie Brown asked Linus a question.

“What are we doing tomorrow?” he asked, before eating a morsel of pork. 

“Well, tomorrow morning, we are going to St Stephen’s Basilica, then in the afternoon we are going to the Buda castle labyrinth, and after that we are going to a classical music concert at the opera house.

“I hear Schroeder’s quite enthusiastic about the evening music.” Charlie Brown said.

“Well, nobody’s told him that there’s no Beethoven being played, there’ll be Hungarian Composers, and Hungarian Dance No. 5, but nothing else.” Linus told him, before sipping his drink of water. 

“Mmhm.” Charlie Brown hummed in agreement, still eating his food. Lucy gave Linus a nudge in order to butt in on the conversation.

“What actually happened, back at the cinema?” Lucy asked.

“Well, Charlie Brown was held at gunpoint.” Linus whispered. “By some guy who thought Charlie Brown was looking for that marble.”

“Oh right.” Lucy replied, slightly shocked. “What happened to him?” Lucy asked.

“Morag shot him.” Charlie Brown said. “But don’t tell anyone that.” Linus added. “We know bad you are at keeping secrets.” Lucy went back to eating after that. Once dinner had finished, Linus, Charlie Brown, and Five went to their room and played a series of card games until it was time for bed.

Meanwhile, Morag, Sally and Eudora were about to tuck themselves into bed. Then, Eudora asked a question to Morag. 

“Morag, can I go to see my father at Equinux tomorrow?” 

“Of course.” Morag answered. “I was going to send you there anyway to gather more information.” Morag replied. With that the three of them went to sleep. Sally paid close attention to Eudora’s turn of phrase, before storing it in her mind for later, as she also went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finished writing the last chapter of this (It's not this one) so expect to see this being updated faster


	14. Guided Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morag and Sally dig for clues about Equinux whilst Eudora learns about it from the inside. Charlie Brown and Friends go sightseeing.

Thursday 31st March

*BOOM* *CRASH*

Charlie Brown woke with a start, again. It was a dark and stormy night, or so he thought. He got up out of his bed and headed for the window. The moonlit sky was clear, without a cloud in sight, not that the stars could be seen with all the light pollution. Charlie Brown checked his watch. It was about 1am. Charlie Brown surmised that he had a nightmare, possibly related to the previous day’s events. He went back into his bed and back to sleep.

*BEEP* *BEEP*

Charlie Brown woke up again, and this time the sun had risen. It was still quite early, but Linus was already awake, and Five was trying to have a lie in. Charlie Brown looked at his watch again. It was 6:30. Breakfast wasn’t to be served until 7:00; in any case Charlie Brown got dressed and he was up and ready for the day ahead. Not long afterwards Linus did the same. After a quick, quiet card game, it was just past 7am, and Charlie Brown and Linus both went to have breakfast. Charlie Brown opted for cold cereal, as usual, and Linus decided to eat toast with strawberry jam. Charlie Brown summed up the plan of today’s events in his head.

“When are we going to the Basilica?” He asked Linus.

“Somewhere between 9:30 and 10:00.” Linus replied.

“Okay.” Charlie Brown responded in acknowledgement, before finishing his cereal, Linus and Charlie Brown waited out the hours playing card games. Meanwhile, elsewhere, Eudora was getting her shoes on and getting ready to go out. “You’re early.” Morag said.

“I’m not going just yet.” Eudora. “I’m going to have breakfast at the Café next door if that’s okay with you.” And she left without another word.

“What’s up with her?” Morag asked, as soon as she was out of earshot.

“She has a lot on her mind.” Sally replied. “I think she wants to spend time thinking on her own.” 

“What would she be thinking about?” Morag asked. 

“I have no idea.” Sally replied. “What are we doing today?” 

“We,” Morag began, “are going to do some basic research on Equinux, now that we know they’re behind this.” Morag said. “We need to find out what they do, and possibly look for some kind of motive.”

“Okay, so where can we find this intel?” Sally asked. 

“On a computer.” Morag answered. “But we have to find one of those first.” 

“There should be a public library or study centre around here somewhere.” Sally replied. “Besides the castle one, I mean.”

“I’m sure.” Morag replied. Let me consult the map, I’m sure I could find one there. Morag took the map from the top of the bedside mantelpiece, before opening it up.   
“Okay, there’s one a couple of streets to our right.” Morag said. “But we are going to have breakfast first.” So they sat down and ate breakfast before heading to the library.

Meanwhile, Eudora had finished her breakfast and was making her way towards the Equinux Headquarters. She was looking forward to the tour her father said he was going to give. She paid for a day ticket at the nearest train station, before travelling via train, and then she walked up to the door leading to the lift that went down to the Equinux Reception area. Eager to start the tour, Eudora walked up to the reception desk. 

“Hello.” Said the receptionist, “how can I help you today?” 

“Mr Elm wishes to see me.” Eudora replied.

“Go on ahead, Eudora. Mr Elm is in his office.” The receptionist replied. Eudora walked off with a smile and headed towards her father’s office. Once she got there, she knocked on the door. *Knock* *Knock*. 

“Come in.” she heard from inside. Eudora opened the door.

“Ah. Eudora. You made it.” Terence said. “I’ve been waiting for you. Are you looking forward to the tour?”

“Absolutely.” Replied Eudora. Terry got up out of his chair and took Eudora by the hand as he led her out of his office. Mr Elm took Eudora to see the assembled computers first, going backwards down the assembly line, as if they were taking a computer apart to see how it works. Eudora took in as much information as she could, about components such as hard drives, processors, operating systems, fans and servos. Eudora asked questions about how the computers in the headquarters related to the flight computer in the plane she flew. “It’s quite similar.” Terence answered. “The flight computer runs a specific program enabling it to keep track of key flight information, such as location, speed etc.” He explained. After that they moved on to the Power Systems Laboratory, where scientists were experimenting on finding a more efficient power source for their computers. They tried to self-power the computers in several different way, via solar power, kinetic energy, and wind power. The scientists were trying their best, but nothing was coming of it. 

“Is this why you’re trying to use the King’s Shooter?” Eudora asked.

“Yes.” Terence lied. Eudora looked closely at the scientists. She noticed that that they looked more like caricatures of scientists than they did real scientists, with their oversized coats, scruffy hair and half of them having their safety goggles resting on their foreheads. Eudora made a mental note of it but appeared to shrug it off. 

“Where next?” Eudora asked. 

“Ooh, err, how about this way?” Terence said, surprised. 

Meanwhile, the School’s minibus had just left for the Basilica, with Charlie Brown and co inside. Next. During the journey, Charlie Brown thought about what his lifetime achievements were. He found it very hard to find any, not that he had very long to find them. Less than ten minutes after it had left, the bus had arrived at the Basilica. Charlie Brown and his friends got off the bus and followed Ms Othmar into the Basilica. Inside it was deathly quiet. The light poured through the stained glass windows in several different colours. Inside the Basilica was lots of information on the history and pictures of the Basilica’s past. In the main chamber, Linus knelt at one of the pews and prayed for his and his friends’ safety. Once they had explored every part of the cathedral they left and headed for a slightly early lunch. 

At the Library, Sally and Morag were already setting about trying to find out more about Equinux. Morag had logged herself onto a computer in order to see if the internet could help. She found very little, except that Equinux was a computer hardware company. 

“That narrows it down.” Morag commented sarcastically.

“It does, but what does a computer company want to do with a marble?” Sally asked, oblivious. 

“Well, allegedly it’s a key to something. We just have to find that something before Equinux do.” Morag answered. 

Sally remembered the library book from the day before. “If you were a mighty king, where would you hide a room full of stuff?”

“Underground, in a castle.” Morag replied. 

“Okay.” Sally replied. “So where do we find a castle underground. There weren’t any stairs leading down when we were there.”

“Not for public use, at the very least.” Morag replied, twiddling her thumbs. 

“Are you suggesting that we break the rules?” Sally replied.

“Do you think the case will be solved if we don’t?”

“Our cover is extremely thin as it is. They’ll know who you are by now, they know who my brother is. We’re not going to risk getting caught by trespassing, and we won’t find anything new by treading old ground. There has to be a better way!” Sally blurted, frustrated. Sally reached for the map across the table and took a good look at it. “Hey, there’s a labyrinth not far from the castle, why don’t you look that up?” Morag looked up the labyrinth. “Apparently, it says that the catacombs once held Vlad the Impaler prisoner.” 

“That seems interesting. If it’s there, I’m sure Charlie Brown or Linus will tell us.”

“How so?” Morag asked.

“They’re going to the labyrinth this afternoon.” Sally replied.

 

After their trip to the Basilica, Charlie Brown, Linus and friends were quite peckish. Ms Othmar had taken them to a local pizza place a short bus ride from the Basilica. The group ate 3 pizzas between them, whilst talking about the Labyrinth.

“What’s so interesting about the labyrinth?” asked Peppermint Patty, from across the table to Linus and Charlie Brown. 

“Well, its damp and dark, and probably dangerous…” Charlie Brown responded, struggling for an answer.

“…but it’s also mysterious. Who knows what secrets are hiding in there?” Linus continued, with a better answer.

“If it’s anything like the castle, we won’t be let near any of the cool stuff. Peppermint Patty complained.

“Maybe, but you’ll never know until you’ve been there.” Linus replied.

Meanwhile, Terence had led Eudora to the area he was most proud of.

“What’s in here, father?” Eudora asked.

“Wait and see.” Terence replied. They arrived at a set of two double doors. Terence walked up to them and pushed them open.

“Welcome, to the Robotics section.” Terry announced proudly.


	15. Cross It Twice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eudora learns about the destination of the King's shooter, unaware that Charlie Brown and Linus are about to make the same discovery.

“Is this your favourite part?” Eudora asked.

“Yes. Here in the Robotics section, prototype machines are being built to rival and overtake companies such as Boston Dynamics and Toyota in the robotics industry. With the help of the king’s shooter, we will become a market leader!” Terry beamed.

“Market leader?” Eudora asked, puzzled.

“We’ll be rich.” Terry explained. 

“Do these robots work yet?” Eudora asked.

“No. I haven’t powered them yet.” Terry answered.

“And the King’s Shooter is the power source.” Eudora assumed.

“No. but I can use it to find the power source.” Terry replied.

“Ah, Right.” Eudora relied. “Where is this ‘power source’?” Eudora asked.

“it’s in a secret room in the Buda Castle Labyrinth.” Terry answered. “We will go there tomorrow, and I’ll bring you along too, if you’re up for it.”

“Yes. That’d be great!” Eudora replied, as she and Terry continued their tour.

By 2pm, Charlie Brown and the others had already left for the labyrinth in the minibus. Most people were at least vaguely intrigued about the mysteries it held, but none of them really expected anything to come of it. Charlie Brown stared out of the window whilst Linus, sat next to him, took a look at the note with Sally’s number on it. He wondered what Sally was doing, and hoped she wasn’t getting into any trouble. Not long after, the bus stopped. Charlie Brown, Linus, and the rest of the trip-goers got off the bus. At the entrance to the labyrinth, Charlie Brown and the others lined up behind Ms Othmar. The entrance was rather small, and you could only fit through it if you walked in single file. A sign on the left read Labyrinth: Dracula’s Chamber. The group entered the labyrinth. Not far in front of them was a tour guide who welcomed them to the Labyrinth.

“Hello, everyone, and Welcome to the Labyrinth.” She said with a distinct Hungarian accent. “I am here to take you on a guided tour of the labyrinth. Everyone follow me.” She said, as she led them down into the labyrinth. After walking past statues, statuettes, and other things such as mannequins in period clothing. The group came up to Dracula’s Prison. “So this is the place where Vlad Tepes, the real Count Dracula, was imprisoned over 500 years ago.” The tour guide explained. 

“Why was he imprisoned?” asked Peppermint Patty, curious. 

“Dracula was King of Wallachia, but the Hungarian King Corvinus wasn’t happy with him so he had him imprisoned.” The Tour guide explained. 

“Was Dracula a good person?” Five asked.

“No, he was quite the opposite. In fact he was well known for his cruelty.”

 

“Oh, Okay.” Five responded, absorbing the information.

They walked a little further down the corridor. Linus saw something out of the corner of his eye. “Hey! What’s in this place here?” Linus said, pointing at said place. In front of him was a strange looking wall. A doorframe shape was indented into it, and on the left there was a small square hole.

“That’s the King’s Chamber. In the old days, various Kings would visit it often. But it hasn’t been used for over 150 years. It’s impossible for us to access it. There’s no key. And we don’t have the means or the permissions to drill through the wall.” She apologised. Charlie Brown went the square hole in the wall and examined it. In it there was a round indent and an additional key shaped indent inside the round indent; it appeared to be a receptacle of some kind.

“Linus, come and take a look at this.” He called. 

“What is it, Charlie Brown? Linus asked. Charlie Brown showed him the receptacle. 

“Do you think it’s…?” Charlie Brown began “Yeah, I think it is.” Linus added. He looked at the rest of the trip-goers staring at them. “Let’s go, Charlie Brown. We’ll talk later.” Linus said. Linus rejoined the troupe and Charlie Brown followed him. As the group continued walking, Linus took another look at the note containing Sally’s phone number. He was going to say something, but thought better of it and they continued on their tour. They kept quiet for the rest of the tour and by the end, most of the class were exhausted. Now that they had explored the Labyrinth, the trip-goers trundled their way back onto the minibus. Linus sat next to Charlie Brown and they began to talk. 

“So, we’ve established that that place we looked at was the keyhole for the King’s Shooter, right?” Linus began.

“It seems to fit the description, even though we haven’t actually seen the marble itself.” Charlie Brown replied. “What do we do now?” he asked.

“I think we should ring Sally and tell her and Morag about it. They need to know about this as soon as possible.” Linus urged.

“So where do we find a phone?” Charlie Brown asked?”

“I think there will be one at the hotel.” Linus answered. “If we ask nicely I think we can borrow it.” 

“And if we don’t, then we can find a payphone and do it there.” Charlie Brown suggested. 

“Yes, but we can’t stray too far, or Ms Othmar will get worried.” Linus replied. “You’ll make the call. Sally won’t take me seriously, because she likes me.”

“Okay. Got it.” Charlie Brown responded. He pondered how best to relay the information. The minibus got going at a steady pace and after a relatively short journey, the group arrived back at their hotel. Once In the hotel, Linus and Charlie Brown quickly went up to the reception desk.

“Please could we use the phone, for a minute or two?” Linus asked.

“Is it an urgent call?” the receptionist asked.

“Yes.”

“Make your call. You have two minutes, then we’ll have to have the phone back.”

“Thank you.” Linus replied. He took the phone and punched in the number Sally had given him, before giving the phone to Charlie Brown. The phone started to ring.

Meanwhile, Sally and Morag were busy researching further details about other possible whereabouts of the chamber, when Sally’s phone began to ring. Sally took a look at the number; she failed to recognise it but took the call anyway.

“Hello. Sally here, who is this?”

“Hi, Sally.” Charlie Brown replied.

“Oh, Hi big brother.” Sally replied, recognising Charlie Brown’s voice. “What’s up?”

“Well, we were just at the Labyrinth, and we found a chamber with a keyhole. We think it’s where the King’s Shooter goes.” Charlie Brown told her.

“Well, what did it look like?” Sally asked.

“The key hole had a round semi-circular hole in it, with a key-shaped hole inside it, next to it was a big archway shape indented into the wall, which appears to be the door.”

“One more question. Are you still there? Or are you somewhere else now?” Sally asked.

“We’re back at our hotel now.” Charlie Brown answered.

“Ok. Well thanks anyway. You’ve been a big help. We’ll take it from here. See you soon big Brother!” And she hung up.

“Thank you.” Linus said to the receptionist.

“You coming, boys?” Ms. Othmar said to the pair.

“Of course, miss.” Linus said, has he and Charlie Brown hurried along to their hotel room.

In Equinux Headquarters, it was getting close to 3:30 and Eudora and Terry were in the reception area.

“Well Eudora, we’ve reached the end of the tour.” “It’s a shame to be seeing you go.” “Come back tomorrow and we can go to the labyrinth and open that door.”

“Sure thing dad. Bye. See you tomorrow. Love you loads.” And she left the building and headed on her way.

Finished with their research, Morag and Sally headed back to their hotel room to discuss their next move.

“So now that we know the labyrinth is where the King’s Shooter came from, what do we need to do now?” Sally asked.

“We need to find out whether Equinux knows where it is, and if so, when they plan to open the door. I’m sure Eudora will tell us all we need to know.”


	16. When You're Cross, You Cross.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eudora gets upset at Morag for using her for her own ends. Sally has to track her down whilst Morag makes some contingency plans.

At around 4pm, Eudora was approaching the hotel where she, Sally and Morag were staying. Having checked into the reception, Eudora walked into her room, where Morag and Sally were waiting. 

“Hi Guys.” Eudora greeted cheerfully.

“Hi.” Morag said. “Did you find anything out?” she asked.

“Yes.” Eudora asked. “I…”

“We already know about the Labyrinth.” Morag interrupted. 

“Who told you that?” Eudora asked, the smile becoming a puzzled frown.

“Charlie Brown did.” Morag replied. “He and Linus were at the Labyrinth today. So what else do you know?”

“Well I know that… wait. Hang on. Why am I telling you this?” Eudora asked, her tone souring. “Because I’m starting to feel that you don’t fully appreciate what I’m doing. As much as your duty is to Queen and country or whatever, at least display that you care somewhat about the people that are assisting you with your work. When I’m out there, at my dad’s work, getting info, I expect you to at least let me feel validated about the work that I have done, by letting me share what I have to offer." She paused. "I see now that your only interest is to use me for gathering information, so, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and spend some quality time with my father. Goodbye.” And she walked out with not a second to waste. 

Morag was silent for a few moments. “What were you going to ask her?” Sally asked, breaking the silence.

“I was going to ask when Equinux was going to head for the labyrinth,” Morag said. “Except now she’s going back to her father and… OHH CRAP.”

“What?” Sally asked.

“If Eudora’s going back to her dad, then she’s going to tell them what we know!” Morag exclaimed.

“What do we do?”

“You need to stop Eudora from getting to Equinux Headquarters. In the event that that fails, I will go to the Labyrinth to prevent the door being opened. Does that sound like a plan?” Morag asked.

“Yep.” Sally replied.

“Well go on then.” Morag said, and Sally made her way quickly out of the front door of the hotel. By the time she got out of the front door, Eudora was already halfway to the metro station.

“Hey, Eudora! Come back!” Sally shouted from behind. Eudora turned to look at her before sprinting towards the station. Sally then gave chase. Eudora rushed into the Station, with Sally not far behind her. Eudora pushed in her card into the ticket machine and took it with her as she sped through the gate. Sally, upon arriving, elected not to pay for a ticket and climbed through the gate, before chasing after Eudora, who was still within her sight. Eudora ran down the stairs with Sally not far behind. By luck, the train happened to be boarding already, and Eudora promptly got on it. Sally, seeing Eudora get on the train, ran down the stairs. Once on, Eudora made her way towards the back of the train. Sally got on the train and tried to follow her, but a ticket inspector walked up to her.

“Do you have a ticket?” he asked.

“If I give you 5000 forint, will you care?” Sally asked.

“Probably not, that’s close enough to the average ticket price, I suppose.” He replied, taking the money as Sally presented it to him. The train departed from the station. Sally then went on towards the back of the train, now unable to see Eudora. She made her way into the next carriage. Eudora had sat down in a window seat next to a rather large woman. Eudora upon hearing Sally enter, moved off her seat and sat on the floor in between her seat and the seat in front of her. Sally walked past without noticing her hidden from view by the large woman’s legs. Sally kept walking and looked for her in the next carriage. At the train’s first stop, seconds after Sally had made it into the next carriage, Eudora got up and snuck her way through leaving passengers to make her way towards the front of the carriage. Sally kept on looking, and, realising she had missed Eudora, made her way towards the front of the train. By the time Sally saw Eudora, the train was already at Budapest-Nyugati. Eudora got off the train and ran, with Sally chasing after her. Eudora headed quickly to the door, ran through and slammed it behind her before heading for the lift. She closed the door of the lift just as Sally opened the door. Sally tried to open the lift, to no avail. Instead she chose to call the lift back up. Once the lift opened. Eudora had gone.

Meanwhile, Eudora hurried into the reception and went straight to the desk. Placing her hands dramatically on the desk. 

“Ma’am, I need to speak to Terry right away, and you really need to call security. I’m being pursued.” Eudora yelled, nearly out of breath. Eudora caught her breath for a couple of seconds before Sally burst in.

“Stop right there.” Sally said affirmatively. “Come on Eudora.” She beckoned. 

“Why?” asked Eudora. “As much as we are friends, I won’t listen to you as long as you acting on Morag’s, uh, words.” She replied.

“Never mind.” Said Sally. At that moment, four armed guards came in, weapons drawn. 

“Freeze! Put your hands in the air!” one of them shouted. Sally put her hands up in the air.

“Please, for the love of God, don’t shoot her!” Eudora shouted. One of the guards brought out a set of handcuffs and promptly handcuffed Sally. Whilst that was happening. Sally spoke quietly.

“Eudora, take my gun.” Sally said.

“But I…”

“Just take it, and keep it safe.” Sally pleaded. Eudora took the gun out of Sally’s pocket and put it into her own. Sally was led away and locked inside an empty room. Eudora turned to face the reception desk again.

“Mr Elm will see you now.” The receptionist said to Eudora. 

“Thank you.” Eudora replied. She made her way through the corridors all the way to Terry’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Terry said. Eudora walked into the room. “Eudora! What brings you here?”

“SPY know about the chamber.”

“WHAT!?” Terry replied, shocked.

“I never told them, honestly. Someone else found out and told her.”

“Hmm. Do you know who they are? I should send Orsinov after them.” Terry replied.

“Orsinov is dead.” Eudora replied. “Someone shot him, because he was waving his gun where it didn’t belong.”

“Damn it.” Terry remarked. “We need to bring forward the trip to the labyrinth.” He said. He picked up his phone and called reception.

“Hello, is that reception? I need 10 of the scientists and 2 armed guards at the front desk by 5pm, as well as 3 cars by the font of the train station.

“Don’t forget Sally Brown. She’s locked in one of the rooms. Bring her too.” She said, loudly.

“What she said.” Terry added, before hanging up.

A guard went to Sally’s locked room and opened the door. “You have been summoned to the front of the reception area.” Sally nodded. And the guard led her out of the room. Sally stood patiently in the reception waiting for the others to arrive. Once they arrived, the receptionist explained the situation. Sally couldn’t help but smile when she found out where she was going, ‘Morag should be there by now, she thought.” 

Morag had taken a bus to near the labyrinth and was standing at the entrance. Heading in, she spent some time looking for the keyhole, but after not too long, she found it. “Ah, this is the place.” She said to herself. She chose to wait around the next corner, so they wouldn’t see her coming. She checked the time on her phone. It was 16:58.

Sally was waiting along with the guards and the scientists as finally Eudora and Terry joined them. 

“Looks like all of us are here.” Terry remarked pleasantly. “Let’s go.” And they walked single file through the front doors toward the lift. The guard beckoned Sally to hide her handcuffs inside her coat sleeves. ‘I was wondering how they were going to hide my arrest.’ Sally thought, as she complied. Having gone up the lift, the convoy of employees filtered their way out slowly into the train station separately, one by one, so as not to raise too much suspicion. As they walked out of the Train station, three black 5-seater cars were laid out in front of them. Eudora got into the front one, whilst Sally was sat in the middle car. As the convoy of cars left, Sally watched as the guard on her left twiddled with the keys to her handcuffs. 

Meanwhile, Eudora and Terry were driving in the front car discussing the plan.

“So why have we brought the scientists?” Eudora asked.

“We need them to understand what lies behind the door.” Terry reminded.

“And what’s… oh yeah, you said. Ignore me.” Eudora said. Terry smiled warmly. Eudora looked out of the window, as Terry drove his way to the labyrinth. By the time they got to the labyrinth, it was 5:15pm. Terry pulled up to the entrance of the Labyrinth and parked the car. “This is the Labyrinth. Come along Eudora, only a few more steps before global market domination!” he said cheerfully as he stepped out of the car.

“Or regular global domination.” Sally thought, getting out of the other car at the same time. Eudora, Terry, and the rest of them walked their way into the labyrinth. On seeing the large group, the tour guide approached them.

“Would you like to have a guided tour of the labyrinth?” she asked. 

“No thank you. We’re fine on our own.” Terry replied and they walked through the labyrinth. After spending a bit of time sightseeing, eventually they came up to a tell-tale piece of wall which looked different from the rest. Morag peeked from the corner wall and saw that Sally was in handcuffs. Morag felt frustrated but held her frustration back, in case Terry and Eudora heard, she went back behind the wall, and began to formulate a plan. Eudora looked at Terry and said, “Do you think this is the place?” 

“I think this might be.” Terry replied. “There’s a gap in the wall here. Terry took the King’s Shooter out of his jacket and placed it on the receptacle in the wall. As the King’s Shooter came into contact with the receptacle, the key within sprung itself into the keyhole slot. The key itself turned 90 degrees anticlockwise. A rumble was heard and the wall began to lower, revealing the hidden chamber to all. In that moment, Morag cracked a smile as she worked out her plan and continued to wait for the right moment. As the chamber opened fully, Eudora, Terry, and the others walked inside.


	17. The Double Cross

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morag, Eudora and Sally reunite amidst a sea of tension and confusion

As they walked in, Eudora and the others saw a large collection of what appeared to be advanced technology, cardboard boxes, and old military hardware and paraphernalia. Eudora took a glance at one of the boxes.

“I have no idea what this thing says, pointing at the writing on the box.” “It’s not Hungarian, that’s for sure. I have the phrasebook.”

“It’s not even in the same script, Eudora.” Sally said. “Look at the lettering. No western language has those.” She pointed out. 

“The little prisoner is right. This appears to be Cyrillic script.” Terry replied. “Which can only mean that this is Russian technology.” He said proudly. 

“Old Russia or new Russia?” Eudora asked.

“Old Russia. This is some Soviet era stuff. I bet some of this stuff is about 60 years old.” Terry answered. Morag stood outside the chamber, listening intently, whilst slowly edging towards the keyhole. She peered into the chamber. None of them were looking at the door. “Excellent!” she thought. She sneaked across the doorway, making sure she was not seen. Scot free, she made it across to the other end of the doorway to where the King’s shooter was. “Perfect.” She thought. “Now to just wait for the right moment to strike.” 

Terry meanwhile, was busy deciphering the instructions on the largest bit of Soviet-Era hardware he could find.

“Hey. It says here, that this device stores volatile energy within the cannon, which when powered can fire this energy in a powerful beam.” Terry announced. 

“Dad, what is volatile energy?” Eudora asked.

“Volatile Energy is energy that exists between different states. It is formless and hectic, and it agitates very easily.”

“Surely you’re just describing regular energy?” Sally said.

“My prisoner, you’d be right, except that in this instance, since the energy is not set to any form, you can use any form as a power source.”

“As for the weapon, it sounds like it’s just a big laser.” Sally scoffed. She thought about folding her arms in disapproval, but remembered she was handcuffed. 

“Just a big laser, you say?” Terry said. “Why, imagine the destruction I could wreak with one of those!” He said, grinning. “I could become industry leader!” he said with ambition. 

“How would a giant laser achieve that, Father?” Eudora asked, puzzled.

“Well, suppose I was to aim the laser at a satellite high above the earth. Hypothetically I could reflect the beam off of it and onto my competitors, like Boston Dynamics, Toyota, and NASA.” Terry explained. 

“But for that you need a satellite. Where are you going to get one of those?” Sally asked.

“Oh that? I already have one. Put it up in space months ago.” Terry smiled. “Did you think I made up the plan as I went along? Did you think I didn’t know what was in this stupid vault? Did you think I didn’t notice your little friend sulking in the shadows as we walked our way here? (That’s a bluff. Thought Eudora.) Because I, Terence Elm, have planned this operation for MONTHS down to the very last detail. Indeed, the only thing that hasn’t gone according to plan is keeping you off the scent. And I have a feeling that’s all about to change.” He said maliciously. “Guards. Teach the little prisoner what happens to those that get in my way." The guards raised their guns and pointed them at Sally’s head. For the first time in her life, Sally understood what fearing for your life truly meant. Trapped and with no means of escape, her life flashed before her eyes. Was this it? Would she die at the hands of a merciless brute with a lust for power? Would all of her work towards justice be wasted by this moment?

“No.” Morag said from behind the wall. 

“What was that?” asked one of the guards. 

“That would be me.” Morag said, her gun pointed firmly at Terence. “I for one am not going to stand here and watch my agents die, particularly when I could act to save them. You heard it right.” Morag proudly stood. “I’m the little spymaster here. Not Charlie Brown, as I’m well aware you thought.” 

“You.” Terry said. “It was you who killed Orsinov. He was one of my most favoured henchmen. Guards!” and the Guards turned and faced Morag. 

“Killing one spy is one thing. Killing two is a dream come true!” Terry said maniacally.

“That’s oddly poetic.” Morag replied. As the guns drew close to her face, Morag didn’t even flinch.

“I guess I should pick up the slack.” Eudora said, rolling her eyes as she did so. She drew the gun Sally handed her out of her pocket and pointed it at Sally. The tension in the room rose to a peak. Morag kept an eye on the events to her right, as Sally tried to back further against the wall, to no avail. 

“Hands up in the air, Sally.” Eudora commanded. Sally did so. 

“Eudora. What are you doing?” Morag said. You don’t know the first thing about guns, or gun safety!” she looked concerned.

Sally muttered under her breath. “Never point a gun at something you don’t intend to kill.”

“What was that Sally. Louder Please!” Eudora shouted, edging closer towards Sally. 

“Never point a gun at something you don’t intend to kill.” Sally said fearfully.

“That’s better.” Eudora said, satisfied. “Like she said… I don’t know the first thing about gun safety. Eudora smiled warmly. Sally understood, and she smiled back, holding her hands in the air as still as possible. Eudora aimed down the sight of Sally’s Walther PPK and…

‘BAANG!’ 

 

Sally, in the immediate aftermath, held her ears, oblivious to the fact her handcuffs were cut in two. The ringing in Eudora’s ears was only interrupted by the sound of a large thump. Morag had shot one of the guards point blank in the head simultaneously to her own shot. Morag, unfazed, turned her attention to the other guard, who had just cocked his gun and was about to shoot. Eudora tossed her gun in Sally’s direction.

“He’s all yours.” She said to Sally, as she sat on crate of military hardware and watched them go.

Sally saw the scrap Morag was in and instinctively shot the other guard up through his spine, which was hunched over Morag as he aimed for her head. The bullet ricocheted through his spine and out through his skull. Fortunately, Morag had spotted Sally and ducked to the floor. The now dead guard’s lifeless body fell on top of Morag, pinning her to the ground. Sally gave an expression of shock, before rushing in front of her to prevent anyone reaching for her or her gun. At that moment, Sally noticed that Terry was fiddling around in a different box of military hardware. A short moment later, after helping Morag pull herself out from under the dead guard, Terry reached out of the box and produced a bomb. Sally’s face fell. It was disheartening to know Terry had planned the whole thing; it was even more disheartening to know he had a plan B. Morag put a comforting arm around her, as if to reassure her that they both had this under control.

“Isn’t that some C4?” Morag asked, fake-inquisitively. 

“Yes. It is.” Terry said. “Well, its 4 C4 stuck together. How perceptive of you.” He said sticking to the upper side wall of the store room. “As soon as the bomb goes off. It will envelop you, and the ground above you in a BIG Explosion! In the meantime, me and the rest of my minions will wheel this Bad-Boy to our delivery depot.” He said, slapping the cannon lightly with his hand. “You have 6 minutes. Good luck.” And he left without another word. The minions behind him hurried to get the laser out as fast as they could.

Sally processed the situation. “Okay, so we have 6 minutes to defuse 4 C4 bombs stuck together…”

“3 minutes.” Morag replied.

“But he said 6 minutes.” Sally protested.

“Trust me. He meant 3.” Morag clarified.

“So what are these bombs?” Eudora asked, getting up off of the military crate. 

“These are your classic “movie style”, three wire bombs.” Morag began. In each bomb, there is a Primer, a Failsafe wire, and a Detonator wire. Cutting the Detonator or the Failsafe will blow it up.”

“Okay, so which of these are the primer wires?” Sally asked. Morag was about to answer, but was interrupted by the sound of the chamber door closing behind them. 

“Okay. We won’t worry about that right now.” Morag said, referring to the door. “The Primer and the Failsafe are both coiled, whilst the detonator is straight."

“Anything else?” Sally asked, looking for help. 

“The Failsafe is designed to prevent the bomb short circuiting, so logically, it should be placed between the primer and the detonator. 

“Primer = Coiled wire not in middle. Got it.” Sally said.

“Great. All that’s left now is to cut them. Does anyone have any scissors?” Eudora asked. 

“I didn’t bring any.” Sally said. Morag rifled through her pockets. To her surprise, she found a pair of scissors. 

“These are… not my scissors.” She said looking at them, covered in patches of dirt.

“If those scissors are that filthy, they must be Pig-Pen’s.”

“Who’s Pig-Pen?” Morag asked.

“Never you mind.” Sally said. “We have a bomb to defuse.” And they got to work defusing the four bombs one by one, finding the correct wire each time. It was a tense 45 seconds, But they got through it in the end. They sat down on the floor. 

“Oh thank god.” Sally said after the last bomb was defused, wiping sweat off her brow. 

“Now all we have to do is get out of this dump.” Eudora said with a wry smile. 

“Any Ideas?” Sally asked. 

“We could just blow the wall up.” Eudora replied. “I’m sure there’s some grenades in one of these crates.” And she dug through the nearest crate, finding a grenade, and handing it to Morag.

“Old, unexploded. Likely low impact explosion, this’ll do.” Morag said approvingly. “Now get behind a box.” Morag pulled the pin and tossed the grenade so that it landed squarely at the door. The three of them ducked behind boxes and plugged their ears.

“KABOOM!” “CRASH!”

The wall separating the chamber from the labyrinth was now open, permanently. As the trio made their way out, they heard the fast approaching footsteps of a panicked tour guide.

“What happened!?” She asked. “Are you hurt?”

“No. we’re fine.” Sally replied. “Sorry about the King’s chamber.”

“You should probably board it up.” Morag said, jokingly.

“Could you show us the way out?” Eudora asked nicely.

“Of course.” The Tour Guide said. And the Tour Guide showed them out via the quickest route possible. Once they were out, they thanked the tour guide for her help and continued down the street. It was still apparent to them that there was still one pressing matter to solve.

“It looks like they’ve already gone.” Eudora complained.


	18. Wall of Gunfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morag, Sally, and Eudora head for Equinux. unfortunately, Equinux had been expecting them.

“Ok.” Morag thought for a bit. “Do you know where their ‘depot’ is?” she asked.

“No. not really. But it has to be near the complex, or else there wouldn’t be any robots in the robotics area.” Eudora said. “You can’t take deliveries through a busy train station like that.”

“Good job, Eudora.” Sally remarked, sarcasm peeling through.

“So we just take the train, and find the building from there?”

“Or better yet. A Taxi.” Morag pointed out. “Look!” Sally leaned outward as she saw the Taxi bustling down the street.

“HAIL!” Eudora shouted.

“TAXI!!” Sally shouted slightly louder. The taxi pulled over. The three of them got in. 

“Where to?” the taxi driver asked, in a thick Hungarian accent.

“Equinux Computing, Delivery Depot.” Eudora replied. “Ok.” And he continued down the street. The three of them sat impatiently whilst the taxi was stuck in the evening rush hour traffic. Eventually however, the taxi made its way through roundabouts and busy streets and had made it past the congested centre, in front of the train station. Once the taxi was out of the traffic, and realising they were closing in on their destination, Morag set about paying for the cab fare. She rifled through her pockets. She had plenty enough cash on hand for the three of them, but wasn’t in the mood for counting it at this time. She had more important things to be thinking about. As they turned around to the side street on which the depot lay, she found out that it wasn’t going to matter.

“Szar!” the taxi driver exclaimed, as he slammed on the brakes. The reason for this sudden movement was evident. Panicked, the taxi driver fumbled for reverse gear. “Just go, you moron!” Morag shouted, trying to take control of the situation. But it was too late. A bullet pierced effortlessly through the taxi’s windscreen and into the driver’s head. Thankfully, it never made its way out. At this moment, the three of them were sitting ducks, and Morag knew this. She removed her seatbelt and ducked behind the passenger seat, making sure Eudora and Sally followed her lead. 

“Ok. When I say go, open the doors.” She waited a few moments. “Go!” Sally and Eudora opened both of the side doors simultaneously.

“Wait.” She commanded. Bullets rushed through the opened side doors, as if to anticipate the three of them exiting. Once the flurry of gunfire had died down, Morag continued planning. “Sally, Eudora, you take the door on the left. I’ll leave via the right and draw their fire. Sally and Morag reloaded their guns. Morag ducked out of the door, firing through the window before heading for the back of the car. Sally got out the other side and fired shots at the guards at the entrance. She wasn’t sure whether she hit anyone, but she was glad to be able to use the car as cover. Sure, it wasn’t bulletproof, but at least they didn’t know where she was. In the meantime, Morag and Eudora had made their way to the back of the taxi. Sally sidled along the taxi to join them. Morag looked at the distance between them and the street corner she was facing. It was about 30ft or so. “That was doable” she thought. With that she told Eudora to run. Eudora ran to the street corner, whilst Sally and Morag gave covering fire. Sally followed, and Morag did after them. They made sure to keep the car between them and the guards’ line of sight. Once they were around the corner, they scurried further down the street until they were safely out of sight. As soon as they were safe, Sally handed Eudora her phone. 

“Ring the Police. Call for Backup.” Sally said. 

“Excuse me?” Morag stepped up. 

“Yes. We’re getting the police involved.” Sally said. “We need more firepower.” Sally asserted.

“Yes, but I don’t think they’ll take kindly to our escapades, or our guns.” Morag argued.

“Well, we were going to have to deal with that, anyway.” Sally said. “And I’d much rather do that than get shot.”

“Okay, fine.” Morag replied, gritting her teeth. The last thing she wanted was for law enforcement to know about SPY, or why she carried a gun. As far as she was concerned, SPY was a secret she told only a select few people, at her own discretion. But that was out of the window now. She pressed further against the wall, stressed. Sally handed Eudora her phone. 

“And for heaven’s sake, don’t lose this one. Give it back to me when you’re done.” Eudora took the phone and nodded in understanding. Morag stood by, keeping an eye out, ready to shoot anyone who tried to ambush them. The guards were still shooting at the taxi. The taxi was now slightly on fire. Morag saw small plumes of smoke rise from the fire. Meanwhile, Eudora had called the Police and was providing them with all the information they needed, including names, location, whether they were armed and dangerous and what their plan was. The Police were almost in disbelief. 

“Are you positive this is true?” Came the voice down the line.

“Can’t you hear the gunfire?” Eudora replied, holding the phone out to the open air. The sound of flying bullets told them everything they needed to know. 

“Ok. We’re on our way with a TEK unit.” the operator responded. “ETA 8 minutes” 

“Understood.” Eudora held the line for updates. 

“What’s going on, Eudora?” Sally turned to ask. 

“The police are sending a TEK unit. ETA 7 minutes.” Eudora relayed.

“What’s a TEK unit?”

“It’s Hungarian SWAT.” Eudora replied. 

“Got it.” Sally said. “7 minutes, Morag.”

“Good.” Morag responded. She took a look at the plumes of smoke coming from the taxi. “That car is starting to burn up.” She said to Sally. “If it blows up, they’ll realise we’re gone. The sound of bullets began to peter out, until they stopped firing altogether. Morag took a peek around the corner. The guards were not at their post, but judging by the fire emanating from the Taxi, the car was going to explode any minute now, and the guards had taken cover behind the wall. Morag waited behind the wall for what felt like an age. Eventually after a couple of minutes, the Taxi exploded with an almighty KABOOM. Shrapnel littered itself across the road, and the sound was almost deafening. The car was now an empty grey husk, with embers of fire still burning on it. Amongst the crackling of fire, Morag heard the distant sound of a police siren and put her gun away. The TEK unit that had been dispatched arrived promptly on the scene. Eudora flagged them down as the vehicle approached them. One by one the TEK officers filed out of the Police vehicle and onto the street. Eudora beckoned them over to her whilst she explained the situation in more detail. Whilst the TEK unit formed an attack strategy, Eudora, Sally and Morag had an idea.

“It’s going to be difficult to brute force our way in.” Morag said. 

“We need to create a distraction.” Sally replied. Eudora attracted the attention of one of the TEK officers. 

“Excuse us, but would it help for us three to create a distraction via the public entrance?” Eudora asked.

“Well, it might help, but it is paramount that the three of you are kept completely safe.”

“Don’t worry about it, these two behind me are trained professionals.” She assured.

“Doesn’t matter. You may leave now. Don’t put yourselves in danger okay?” he warned. 

“We won’t.” Morag assured with a smirk. Morag, Eudora, and Sally headed away from the Depot entrance whilst the TEK unit confronted the armed guards. They headed through several streets before finding their way in front of the main train station. Confidently, they headed inside. The station was very crowded, given that it was rush hour still. Taking care not to get in anyone’s way, they walked towards the side door that served as Equinux’s “public” entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More will be coming very soon!


	19. Standing in the Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morag, Sally and Eudora faceoff against Terry.

As they walked into the elevator, they discussed their plan. Once they reached the floor, they exchanged glances and nods and walked out towards the reception desk. Eudora approached the woman at the desk with a confident look on her face.

“Hello, how can I help you?” The receptionist asked, without looking up from her computer. 

“Could I borrow some paper?” Eudora asked innocently.

“Of course you can.” She responded. “How many sheets?

“10 will do.” Eudora replied. The receptionist, without even looking away from her screen, craned her arm to reach for the paper, before handing the wad to Eudora.

“Thank you.” Eudora replied. The three of them made their way into the main corridor and walked in the direction of the robotics lab. Upon approach, it became clear that the entrance to the lab was guarded. Morag and co retreated to around the corner.

“Shall we execute the plan here?” Morag whispered to the rest of the trio.

“It’s as good a time as any.” Sally replied. Morag pulled out the lighter from her coat jacket as Eudora handed her the stack of paper. Sally made her way to the nearest fire alarm. Eudora had assured the both of them that setting it off wouldn’t set off the alarms in the station, as they weren’t connected. Morag wondered at the time whether that was safe, but reasoned that a business as illicit as this would put secrecy over safety without exception, but right now, time is of the essence. Morag lit the paper on fire and threw it at the vinyl floor. Sally punched the fire alarm before joining the other two. The three of them walked down the corridor as the guards and the scientists made their way out of the nearest fire exit in an orderly fashion. As they made their way into the robotics laboratory, the fire petered out behind them, leaving black streaks on the floor. The laboratory was as white and pristine as it was when Eudora walked through it with her father. Sally was the first to break the silence.

“So, where next?” she asked.

“Dad’s going to want to power that stupid laser. So he’s going to take it to the Power Systems Laboratory. It has a skylight.”

“And I’d be willing to bet that skylight is retractable.” Morag added. Eudora led them out of the Robotics Laboratory and down corridor. The Power Systems was still a short while away, but Eudora knew the way. Sally wondered what her brother and his friends were up to. She knew they were due to go to a concert at 7pm, but she didn’t know what time it was now. The time was on her phone…

“Hey, Eudora.” Sally said.

“What’s up?” Eudora asked.

“Could you give my phone back, please?” Sally said in a slightly annoyed tone.

“Sure.” Eudora replied, handing over the phone. Sally glanced at the time on her phone. It read 6:10 pm. 

After a few minutes, the fire alarm stopped, but by then the trio were almost at the door to the Power Systems Lab. 

“Okay guys, this is it.” Eudora said as they approached the door. “We’re ready.” Morag replied confidently. The three of them walked inside. The room was as pristine as it had been when Eudora first walked into it, the walls shining a brilliant white. The sunroof up above was retracted fully, joining the facility to the open air of the outside world. The view in front of them was one of utter beauty, save for the ugly green behemoth of a laser cannon wheeled under the sunroof, sitting in the centre of the room, with the grinning smile of a familiar face standing in front of them. 

“Ah, Eudora. I was wondering when you were coming back.” Terry jeered. “As you can see, I have brought my prized laser with me, ready to destroy my first target in about what, *checks watch* 5 minutes?”

“That laser isn’t yours.” Eudora pointed out 

“Oh, nobody was using it any way.” Terry rebuked. “My Satellite is aimed right at Boston Dynamics, and from there I will demonstrate my power on the citizens of Boston themselves!” he laughed evilly. 

“That sounds like terrorism.” Sally commented. Terry took no notice of her comment, but turned towards them.

“And what are you two doing here?” Terry asked, spotting Morag and Sally. “You’re supposed to be dead. I locked you in the room and everything.”

“Well, we defused the bomb.” Morag replied. 

“And then we blew up a hole in the door.” Sally added.

“And you left me in there, you idiot!” Eudora complained.

“Well, you missed your shot.” Terry replied. “If you had shot her in the head like I hoped you would, I wouldn’t have to be dealing with them right now. And I will be dealing with them right now.” He said pulling out his gun, and pointing it at Morag.

Morag realised her predicament. “Ah Crap.”

“Yes, indeed.” Terry replied. “You try to pull a fast one on me, I’ll blow your brains out.” Morag sharpened her gaze at him whilst trying to think of a way out. Just then Sally pushed her behind her with her hand. 

“Not without going through me you won’t!” Sally said defiantly.

“You realise he can just shoot both of us now.” Morag pointed out.

“Not if I can help it.” Eudora said, placing herself in front of Sally.

“You!” Terry called out. “Why do you do this? You’re putting yourself in harm’s way, and for what, to save your so-called friends?”

“I’m sure I’ve told you this before, on one of the sparing occasions you’re actually home, that Sally is a very close friend of mine, and that we would never let anything get in the way of that, and whilst I am disappointed by the way Morag has exploited us and our friendship in order to get what she wants, I see now why she has done it. Sally told me about what happened to Charlotte Braun and I flew her here personally in order to keep her spirits up. When she and Morag were being shot at by an ‘unknown assailant’ I threw a brick at the perpetrator. It’s taken me a while to piece it together but to me, it is clear now that you were at fault for all of this crap, the Death, the Guns, the Fear, the Pain, the Anxiety. All of this is your fault, and in light of your grand plan, there’s only one thing that’s still needs to be done."

“And what’s that? Are you going to kill me?”

“Oh no. we wouldn’t do that,” Eudora answered. “We’re professionals.” Sally added. 

“We hand out justice the way it should be done.” Morag announced from behind.

“And what justice are you talking about?” Terry replied condescendingly.

“The sort of justice that stands behind you, with a pair of handcuffs in one hand and tactical weaponry in the other.” Eudora answered, trying to suppress a sense of schadenfreude that was threatening to make her look smug. Terry turned around to see a group of TEK officers waiting to arrest him.

“Oh, shit.” He blurted, putting his hands in the air and letting go of his gun, which clattered as it hit the ground. 

“By the authority vested upon us in the name of the law, you are under arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to commit terrorism. You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say can be used against you in a court of law.” The officer said, putting handcuffs on him. As the police led Terry away, the trio were left alone to the sound of continued whirring.

“The machine’s still on, isn’t it?” Eudora said.

“Oh yeah.” Morag said, walking up to the machine and shutting the power off. There that should do it. One of the officers went back to check on the three of them. 

“We’ve turned it off. We’re all safe, for now.” Morag announced to him.

“Yes. Well done.” The officer said. “First of all, I must say that what you did was reckless and dangerous. However, without your contribution, we would never have discovered his intentions or uncovered his crimes. I’m sure your country would be proud of you.” He said to them. “We’ll take care of the rest. Have a nice day.” He said, leaving them behind and rejoining his squad.

Sally checked the time on her phone. “If we leave now we could still make it to the concert where Linus and my brother are.”

“I’m up for some downtime, what about you, Eudora?” 

“Sure, maybe I can forget about my dad a bit.” Eudora replied. The three of them walked out back to the front entrance, which was now guarded by officers. The officers let them out of the building and they headed up to the train station, which was bustling as it had been before. The three of them planned their route before heading onto their train. 4 stops and 1 changeover later, they arrived at the Opera house with time to spare. The three of them paid for their tickets and sat down. Not long after them, Charlie Brown, Linus and the rest of the trip-goers sat down next to them.

“Didn’t expect to see you here.” Linus commented as he sat down. “You alright?” 

“Yeah.” Morag said. “We’re done now.” She said in hushed whispers. 

“We’ve solved the case, and got to the bottom of it.” Sally joined in the conversation. “And all criminals responsible are under arrest.” She added.

“Good job. I’m impressed.” Linus congratulated. “What’s next?”

“A bit of rest, then I’m not sure what happens after that.” Morag replied. “I’ll have plenty of admin work to do. Protocols and what not. I’m sure you’ll hear about it later.” She told him.

“Yeah, let’s enjoy the concert, for now.” Linus replied in agreement. The lot of them sat quietly whilst the concert was about to begin, when they did begin, they opened with Hungarian Dance No. 5, and played pieces by Bela Bartok, Franz Liszt, before finishing off with Beethoven’s moonlight sonata. Schroeder was practically glued to his seat, mesmerised by the spectacle and the sound, and he was beaming from ear to ear when Moonlight Sonata began to play. By the end of it, it was almost 9:00, and everyone was very tired. The trip students left the theatre and went back on the minibus back to their hotel. Not long later, the trio did the same.

On the bus, Linus and Charlie Brown were sitting next to each other. 

“Sally, Eudora, and Morag were at the concert as well.” Linus told him.

“Are they all ok?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Yeah. They finished their mission, so there’s no more danger or anything, if that gives you any peace of mind.” Linus assured.

“Ok, glad to know my Sister’s ok, and everyone else too.” Charlie Brown replied. Charlie Brown wasn’t much in the mood for speaking, the events of the previous day were still very much in his mind. When Charlie Brown, Linus, and the rest of the trip students got off the bus, Charlie Brown was the first to go to bed. Linus and the others played card games for a while, before they went to bed as well. Morag, Sally and Eudora lied on their beds in their hotel room, and went to sleep.


	20. Separate Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mission over, Morag, Eudora and Sally split up and set about finding a way to get home.

Friday 1st April

Morag woke up to the sound of a beep on her phone. It was 6am, and someone was ringing her. She pressed answer quickly, before sliding out of bed and slowly walking to the far end of the room. 

“Hello?” she said in a hushed tone. “Who is this?”

“This is Moneypenny, from Universal Exports? You would be Morag, correct?”

“How did you find out my contact number?” whispered Morag angrily.

“James gave it to me.” Moneypenny replied. “He figured that would be the best thing to do now that you’re known to the Hungarian intelligence circle.”

“I guess now that I’m properly active in the field, there should be some actual protocols or something, instead of keeping everything a big secret like James has for the past 8 years.” Morag calmed herself. 

“Yes, about that. M has personally organised a meeting between the 4 of us at HQ tonight at 21:00 UK time. Your participation in the discussion is dependent on your timely arrival. Additionally, we would also like you to inform Eudora that in light of Mr Elm’s arrest, his assets have now been frozen.”

“Ok. So how is she going to get home?”

“Eudora will be picked up from the airport by US officials at 10:00. We weren’t able to get into contact with your other friend or her relatives, so she will have to make her own plans for going home. Remember, you have until 21:00 to get here. Good luck.” And Moneypenny hung up.

“The joys of operating in secret.” Morag muttered to herself, as she put away her phone, before getting dressed in the bathroom. By 6:30, Morag was sitting, fully dressed, on her bed, waiting for the other two to wake up. Eudora awoke first, followed by Sally.

“How long have you been awake?” Eudora asked.

“Half an hour.” “I got a call at 6.”

“From who?” Eudora asked.

“It was from the ‘authorities’.” Morag said with finger quotes.

“What did they say?”

“All of your dad’s assets have been frozen, which means that we can’t use the plane to get back home.” 

“So what am I going to do?” Eudora asked.

“Some US officials are picking you up from the airport at 10am. So we don’t have much time.

“What about me?”

“You’re free to do as you please.” Morag said. “Or to phrase it more correctly, they’ve stood you up. I’ll take your gun, since I’m able to get it past security. I’ll make sure it gets back to you. Oh, and here’s Pig-pen’s scissors, I’m sure he’ll want them back.”

“Right. So I have to make my own way back?” Sally asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m sure that Ms Othmar wouldn’t mind if I joined them, given the circumstances.” Sally replied.

“I’ll be waiting at the café next door.” Morag said to Eudora, leaving the room.

Eudora went up and got herself dressed whilst Sally took the opportunity to have some extra shuteye. Once Eudora was ready, she left the hotel room and walked towards the café next door. The sun was shining brightly and there was not a cloud in sight. Morag was sitting outside, cup of tea in hand. 

“Would you like something to eat before you go?”

“No, I’ll be fine.” Eudora answered.

“Okay. I’ll finish my tea and then we’ll go.” Morag said. Morag finished her tea and she and Eudora left the café and went to the nearest metro station. They got on the train and rode it to the end of the line, at Kobanya-Kispest station, where they went on a bus that took them to the airport.

By the time they arrived at the airport entrance, it was nearly 8am. Eudora was the first to complain.

“Why are we here so early? I’m not due to fly for another two hours.”

“Wouldn’t want to be late and keep them waiting, would you?” Morag replied.

“Do you mind if I go and buy a puzzle book or something to keep me occupied?” Eudora asked.

“As long as you come back here when you do, I don’t mind.” Morag answered. Eudora went off to the airport interior, and bought herself a puzzle book. While she was doing that, Morag took out her phone, and phoned Sally.

“Hey, Sally. You up yet?”

“I’m awake.” 

“Good. I’m at the airport. I’m just going to tell you now, that once Eudora leaves on the plane, I’m holding a conference call with you and the other 4 society members about our next moves, and about setting up a proper communications channel with your brother and his friends.”

“Okay, thanks for letting me know.” Sally said. Morag hung up and turned to see Eudora return with a puzzle book. Whilst Eudora started solving some devilish brain-teasers, Morag was on the phone telling the other S.P.Y members about the conference call.

Meanwhile, Charlie Brown, Linus, and the other trip-goers were having breakfast in their hotel cafeteria. Linus ate some cereal, whilst Charlie Brown had buttered toast. Lucy, Peppermint Patty, and Marcie were also at the table with them.

“What are we doing today, Linus?” Lucy asked.

“Well today, we’re going to Margaret Island.” Linus replied.

“Where’s that?” Peppermint Patty asked.

“It’s an island in the middle of the Danube.” Marcie replied.

“There’s lots of stuff to do there, apparently.” Charlie Brown added.

“Yes. As I was saying, there wasn’t anything in the itinerary, but according to this English-language brochure I found in the lobby, there’s a swimming pool, a mini zoo, enough wide open spaces to play soccer or other sports in, an athletics track, and a playground. Also there’s plenty of walkways and benches and places to picnic and look at the scenery.”

“You should join the tourist board.” Lucy scoffed.

“I brought a soccer ball.” Peppermint Patty said. “I’ll make sure to take it with me before we get on the bus.”

“I’d be up for that.” Charlie Brown said.

“We all would. Walking around indoors all day was starting to get tiring anyway.” Linus concurred.

“Agreed.” Marcie said, on behalf of everyone. The children at the table continued to eat their breakfast, finishing it. By about 8:30, Ms Othmar had corralled the children and the group headed into the minibus.

While the trip-goers were on the minibus, Sally was sitting outside the café next to the hotel, having just finished eating. She took out her phone. Every morning, Mrs Brown had rung Sally to see whether she was still okay. She hadn’t done so yet today, so Sally felt the need to call her instead. She dialled her mother’s number on her phone and waited for her to pick up.

“Hello?” came a voice from the other end.

“Hi Mom.” Sally said. 

“Oh Sally. Thank god you’re alright. You still saving the world, are you?”

“No. We did it. We saved the world.”

“That’s nice to hear. What were you actually doing?”

“I don’t think I’m at liberty to say that right now, but I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.”

“Ok, when are you coming back?” 

“I’ll try and convince Ms Othmar to let me join up with my brother and his friends, otherwise I’ll have to think of something else.”

“Don’t do anything reckless, okay?” Mrs Brown said to her.

“I won’t. See you soon!” Sally replied, before hanging up. She got up, left the café, and headed for the metro station, taking the train to Arpad hid, before walking the rest of the way to Margaret Island, where Linus and friends were due to be.

Having arrived on Margaret Island, the trip-goers got off the minibus and waited for Ms Othmar to lead them. Ms Othmar got out of the minibus and stood in front of her students.

“Where first, miss?” Linus asked.

“First, we’re visiting the water tower. Then we’ll decide what to do next when we’re there. Come on, let’s go.” Ms Othmar answered. 

Whilst the trip-goers were studying the water tower, Morag and Eudora were waiting at the airport and 10am was fast approaching. As the clock hit 10 am, Morag and Eudora sighted a small, dark blue jet touching down and landing on the runway. After it landed. Two men in crisp, navy blue suits and matching sunglasses made their way toward the two of them.

“Good morning.” One of them said. “You would be Morag and Eudora, correct?”

“Correct, and you would be the two US officials we were expecting. May I see your identification?”

“Absolutely.” The man said, as the men took out their ID’s 

“John Madison, FBI.” 

“Godfrey Abraham, CIA.”

“We have contacted your mother about the situation and she will be waiting for you upon your return.” Agent Madison told Eudora. “If you would like to follow us.” Eudora followed behind the two agents to the plane with Morag behind. As the plane door closed, Morag waved goodbye before watching the plane take off. Morag went back into the airport lobby and took out her phone. She set up a group call with Sally and the rest of the S.P.Y members and pressed the call button to ring them all at once. 

“Hello. This is Morag speaking.”

“Sally here. I hear you.” 

“Violette here. I am at home.”

“José, uh, Q here. Did you secure the call?”

“Of course I did.” Morag replied.

“Mimi here.”

“Takui listening.”

“How was the mission?” Violette asked.

“The stone was not retrieved, but the person responsible for taking it and all crimes pertaining to it is now in custody, so the mission is now complete.”

“Good.” Violette replied.

“As a consequence of this, some of us are now known to the Hungarian intelligence community, and as a result, my father, James, has divulged the existence of our organisation to other high ranking members of MI6.”

“Oh. Ok then. What do we do now?” José asked.

“Well, MI6 have asked me to attend a meeting with them at 9pm about the future of the organisation. The conditions stipulated seem to indicate that I would have a voice at the table, should I attend.”

“And what would that mean?” Mimi asked.

“I will be giving them the full brief on what S.P.Y is and what we do, with the hope that we receive full recourse to operate and official backing. I will also be discussing setting up an official communications channel between us and Charlie Brown and his friends.”

“By that she means one that is not solely reliant on me.” Sally replied.

“I can personally vouch for Charlie Brown and Linus' ability and capability in handling such a task.” Violette said.

“As can I.” Mimi replied.

“Good. I’ll mention that at the meeting. I’ll give you more info after the meeting’s over.” Morag replied.

“So are we done?” Sally asked.

“For now, yes. Wish me luck.”

“We will!” they all said, as Morag hung up. Morag got up from her chair and put her phone away. She checked the departures and paid for the first available tickets to London before sitting down, where she waited for the plane to arrive.

Meanwhile, Sally was at the nearby park waiting for the trip goers to finish looking at the water tower. Sally watched as the group walked back from the water tower towards the garden that she was standing in. Linus and Charlie Brown were the first to notice. Sally walked up to the two of them.

“Hi guys.” Sally greeted.

“Oh, hey Sally. What brings you here?” Linus replied.

“Eudora and Morag went home.” Sally answered.

“On their own?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Morag yes, Eudora no.” Sally replied.

“What does that mean?” Linus asked.

“Some officials picked Eudora up. Morag’s going home to see her dad.” Sally replied.

“What about you?” Charlie Brown asked.

“I’m not on anyone’s database, apparently.” Sally answered. 

“You’d think they’d have data on everyone, what with that satellite they have up.” Linus replied.

“Funny story about that.” Sally said with a chuckle.

“What would that be?” Linus asked.

“I’m not at liberty to say. Someone of your intelligence should be able to work out the rest from there.” She said knowingly. Linus thought for a bit.

“I see.” Linus replied.

“Come along now, children, we wouldn’t want to get separated now, would we?” Ms Othmar called out. Linus and Charlie Brown caught up with Ms Othmar, with Sally following on behind them.

“How long before she notices?” Linus whispered to Charlie Brown.

“Hours.” Charlie Brown replied. 

“Where are we going?” Sally asked.

“Mini Zoo, I guess.” Linus replied. The group went to the mini Zoo and then spent next half an hour looking at the variety of small animals and birds. Some people enjoyed looking at the animals, but there were others, like Peppermint Patty, who were clearly more interested in playing soccer than observing nature.

After that, the group went to the wide open park space south of where they had just been. Peppermint Patty took out her soccer ball and she and a few others played football with it. Sally went over to Ms Othmar and explained her situation, without giving too much away. Ms Othmar accepted her explanation and offered her the chance to to join the group for the remaining days of the trip, which Sally gladly accepted. 

Sally returned to where Charlie Brown and Linus were sitting and sat next to them.

“So Ms Othmar, let you join us, then?” Linus asked.

“Yes. One extra person wasn’t too difficult.” Sally replied.

“That’s good to hear.” Charlie Brown said, relieved. 

“What are we doing next?” Sally asked. 

“I think, after this break, we’re going on a walk around the edge of the island, stopping at any places we find interesting.” Linus answered.

“Or that Ms Othmar find interesting.” Sally added.

“That too.” Linus replied. The three of them sat on the grass, engaging in small talk while the others finished their football game. Once the game was finished the group got up and went to Ms Othmar, who led them on a walk around the southern perimeter of the island. The first point at which they stopped was at a water fountain, before swiftly moving on. They walked around the southern end of the island, before coming to a stop at an athletics track. Nobody except Peppermint Patty was in the mood for that, so they kept on walking. 

Not far away from there, there was a playground, where Ms Othmar let the group play for a few minutes, before they continued on their walk, striding past the swimming pool and carrying on until they reached the musical fountain (it’s a fountain that plays music). After that they went back on the minibus and headed back to the hotel.


	21. The War Rooms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morag tries to convince MI6 of the necessity of her organisation, while Sally and the others prepare to go home.

Meanwhile, Morag had arrived in London, and was now looking for MI6 HQ. After the debacle that was Blofeld’s demolition of the old Vauxhall building, and the Ponzi scheme that was the Joint Operations building (now converted into a privately owned office block), MI6, or at least, the 00 section, had returned to the “War Room” base of operations they had used ever since Bond was dealing with Silva. The only question that remained was remembering where the hell that was. She got on the eastbound Piccadilly line train, and rode it to South Kensington tube station, where she exited the train.

She leaned against a wall, thinking on whether to pry in her father’s Chelsea flat, or to work out where it was on her own. She knew that head office and M liked to spend their time in Whitehall, Bond and Tanner were likely to be in the “War room”, and Q would be at his workshop. At that point, she remembered that Moneypenny’s number would be on her phone. She went upstairs and out of the station and stood outside. Taking her phone out, she look through her recent calls, found Moneypenny’s number, and dialled it. 

“Hello. This is Universal Exports, how can I help you?”

“Morag here. I’m at South Kensington. Where are you holding the meeting?”

“Your father insisted we hold it in the “War Room.” You should know where that is. You still have plenty of time. You should probably go home now and head for us closer to the time.”

“Understood. See you then.” Morag replied, hanging up. Morag put her phone away and walked to her father’s flat in Chelsea, where she took out the plastic key she had in her pocket and entered the house with it. The interior was as barren and untouched as it was last time she was here. Indeed, most of the evidence it was being used was left by her.

A copy of the previous day’s Evening Standard was laid on the sofa, in which there was a small article on page 7 about a car explosion outside a warehouse in Hungary. Hungarian police were quoted as saying “We are dealing with the issues at hand. What is happening is very complicated and will take a lot of investigation.” Morag put the paper to one side and turned on the television. Moneypenny had said that now was the time to relax, so Morag put her feet up and watched TV, to pass the time.

Meanwhile, Sally and the rest of the Trip-goers had returned to their hotel. Sally was went to the girls’ hotel room and they arranged a way for Sally to share the room with the rest of them. After that they spent the next few hours chatting, playing card games and the like, whilst waiting for Ms Othmar to take the lot of them to a restaurant for the evening.  
By 7pm, Morag was beginning to get bored of the TV, so she turned it off and got herself a frozen meal and put it in the microwave, making ready to head out to MI6 afterwards. While she was eating, she heard the sound of keys turning in the door. The Door opened, and a familiar face walked inside.

“Evening, Dad.” Morag said from the dinner table. 

“Evening, Morag.” Replied James. “I take it you’re heading to the meeting as soon as you’re finished eating?”

“Absolutely.” Morag confirmed. Morag finished the last of her meal, binned the packaging and made ready to head out.

“Do you know where you’re going?” James asked.

“It’s in the War rooms. I don’t know where that is, but now that you’re here, I can just follow you, instead of rifling through your things for any intel on the location.” Morag answered. 

“We’ll take the Aston.” James replied. The two of them headed out of their flat and down to the garage, where James’ Aston Martin DB5 was waiting. James got in the driver’s seat, whilst Morag sat in the passenger seat. James started the engine, and the two of them headed off towards the “War Rooms”. 

Upon arriving at the War rooms, Morag and James Bond walked up to the front desk at which Miss Moneypenny was sitting.

“Good evening, James.” She said, smiling, before turning to face his daughter. “I assume you must be Morag.” 

“That’s correct.” Morag replied. “Where is the meeting?”

“In the second room on your left in the corridor. You’re early though, so there’s plenty of time for you to wait around and think on what you would like to say.” Moneypenny suggested. Morag followed her advice and sat thinking in the foyer.

Eventually it was almost approaching 9 o’clock, and Morag, James, and Moneypenny made their way to the meeting room, where they sat down and waited for M to turn up. At the stroke of 9pm, M walked into the meeting room, and the meeting began.

“Good Evening.” M called as he entered the room.

“Evening.” The other three replied as M sat down.

“As the three of you will already know, we have convened this meeting thanks to the commitment and hard work of a one Miss…

“Bond. Morag Bond.” Morag finished for him. James smiled for a moment before turning back to M.

“Yes, Miss Bond, who, through her efforts, using incredibly limited resources, has managed to prevent an act of terror from being committed.” M continued. “Without further ado, I am happy to invite Morag to speak about this, as well as recommend her for an official commendation.” He finished, before sitting down.

The three adults applauded as Morag stood up to speak. “Thank you.” Morag began. “As I’m sure you are already aware, apprehending Mr Elm was no easy task, and I could not have done it entirely on my own.” She paused. “Ever since my birth, I have existed in the shadows. Nobody knew who I was, or where I came from, except from James. Having me out in the open would make me vulnerable to attack. I’d be a valuable bargaining chip if I was ever captured.” She continued.

“To combat the loneliness of being perpetually in shadow, I started to write letters to multiple people at random addresses around the world. When James found out about this, he made sure that I kept my identity safe so that information would not fall into the wrong hands. As I grew up, and I learned more about the nature of my father’s work, I started taking inspiration from him, and converted my letter writing habits into an intelligence gathering network. I’d ask more questions about local goings on, local and national politics, and seeking to understand the things that worried them.” Morag kept speaking.

“Eventually, some people became aware of what I was doing, at which point I invited them to be a part of the Society for the Protection of the Young, abbreviated as SPY. With my father’s permission, I acquired some old MI6 hardware and established a base of operations at a dilapidated house in Malta. We fixed the house up a bit and it now serves as our base of operations.” She explained.

“It was thanks to this network that we were able to find the marble in the first place. One of our agents was given it by a member of the Spanish Secret Service, and we had another agent, Charlotte Braun, hold it for safe keeping. However, we were not prepared for the lengths Mr Elm would go to acquire the marble. Charlotte Braun was killed in the line of duty, protecting that marble. It is this incident, as well as multiple close calls afterwards, some involving innocent bystanders that forces me to ask, that my organisation have some form of either official or unofficial oversight from MI6, as doing so would help increase the security and safety of those who voluntarily serve to protect our collective peoples.” Morag finished, choosing to sit down.

“Are you telling me that a child was murdered?” M asked, concerned. 

“Yes. It just so happened that both Mr Elm and Charlotte Braun lived in the same neighbourhood. This came as a surprise to us as we didn’t know Mr Elm was after the stone until both Sally Brown and Eudora Elm came to our aid. With proper oversight, we could use our shared intelligence to prevent fatalities such as this.” Morag answered.

“Understood.” M said. “We have one more question. Did you kill anyone during the course of your mission?”

“Yes. I killed two people. The first one was a trusted high ranking employee of Mr Elm’s, he called him Orsinov.”

“Ah, yes. Alexey Orsinov. We have him on our file.” M noted.

“Orsinov was holding a gun to the head of Charlie Brown, who was an innocent bystander. Doing anything else would have gotten either me or Charlie Brown shot. As for the second, I shot a guard at the start of a gunfight, his gun was pointed at me that time.” Morag responded. 

Morag waited as the three of them discussed in detail what she had said. After what felt like an eternity, they finally finished their conversation. “That will be all. We are very impressed by what you have done.” M stood up and spoke. “Concerning your organisation, Morag, the three of us have come to an agreement to let your organisation continue, with our oversight, but only on the condition that your agents are entirely willing to continue as well. They must make that decision themselves, and we cannot force or pressure them to work for us, given the nature of our work. Once we have their decisions, then we will provide oversight, communications channels, as well as a modicum of funding, in order to help you level the playing field.”

“Thank you very much, sir.” Morag said graciously, shaking M’s hand. 

“This meeting is now adjourned.” M said, as all four of them got up and left. M and Moneypenny both went back to their desks to pack away for the evening, whilst James and Morag both went home. Once they were home, James sat and watched some television whilst Morag tucked herself into bed and slept for the night.

Meanwhile, in Hungary, Sally had settled into the Trip-goers’ girls bedroom, fashioning a bed out spare sheets and cushions on the bedroom floor, which she slept in for as many nights as she continued to stay with the trip-goers.

Eventually, around a week after they left, the day came when the Budapest trip ended and all of the students were going home. Sally and the others got on the minibus, luggage in hand, and headed for the airport. Airport security went by painlessly, save for when Sally was caught with Pig-Pen’s scissors and handed them back to him, and eventually, they were on the plane back to Minnesota. 

The kids turned their watches onto American time, and watched as they took off. Some people chose to have a nap once they were in the air, while others took to chatting about their travels. Sally, however, was stuck sitting next to Ms Othmar, so she chose to look out of the window and reflect on the events of the past week. More than ever, she wanted to get home. She’d kept in touch with her mother as often as she could, to try and keep them from worrying. She tried to occupy her thoughts with things to keep her awake, but it wasn’t long before she nodded off as well. 

Sally slept restlessly, her mind plagued by nightmare scenarios, potential disasters unfolding in front of her eyes, and each time she woke up, the colliding emotions of fear and relief that hit her hurt like a brick to the head. Eventually, after waking up for the fifth time, Ms Othmar noticed something was wrong. She turned to Sally and asked her a question.

“Sally, is something wrong?”

“No. I’m just having nightmares.” Sally responded. 

“What are they about?” Ms Othmar asked.

“The plane. I feel like something catastrophic is going to happen literally any second.” Sally admitted.

“Are you afraid of flying?” Ms Othmar asked.

“You could say that. Eudora noticed that as well.” Sally replied.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Ms Othmar asked.

“Not really. Unless you have something that can help me take my mind off things.” Sally answered. 

“Let me see what I have.” Ms Othmar took her bag out of the cabin hold and dug through it eventually taking out a Rubik’s cube, and handing it to Sally. Sally began to play with the Rubik’s cube, focusing her mind on completing it, and not on whatever disaster that could be waiting around the corner. Completing one face of the Rubik’s cube took nearly an hour, and she appreciated and thanked Ms Othmar for giving it to her. 

With the time passed sleeping and playing with the Rubik’s cube, by the time Sally had finished it, the plane was about to land. Sally suddenly became worried for a moment, before Ms Othmar reshuffled the Rubik’s cube, so she could focus on solving it again.

“Can I keep this?” Sally asked as the plane touched down in Minnesota.

“Sure you can.” Ms Othmar replied. The trip-goers exited the plane and made their way to the arrivals section of the airport, where their parents were eagerly waiting. Mr and Mrs Brown eagerly awaited their children with open arms. 

“You’re back, alive and well!” Mrs Brown said, elated, as Charlie Brown and Sally ran to hug them. 

“Sorry to make you wait, Mom.” Sally apologised.

“I doesn’t matter anymore, now that I know you’re okay.” Mrs Brown replied.

“Yeah, it got pretty dangerous at points.” Charlie Brown added.

“Really?” Mr Brown asked.

“We’ll tell you later.” Charlie Brown promised. By this point the Brown siblings had already told each other about their various scrapes and brushes with death. Meanwhile the parents of the other children were equally glad to see them, many of them were hugging each other and wishing each other’s families well. It wasn’t long, however, before the parents started to leave with their children and head for home, and eventually, Charlie Brown and Sally did too. 

When they got home, it became clear to both Mr and Mrs Brown that their children were exhausted, as well as hungry. They ate dinner, which was eaten quickly, and without fuss, before Charlie Brown and Sally both went to bed, where they slept for a long time. Mr and Mrs Brown figured that they would have to wait to hear their children’s stories until they were properly rested. The Browns continued to watch TV until late, and when he was tired enough, Mr Brown kissed his wife goodnight and they both went to bed too.


	22. Project BEAGLE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie Brown, Sally and Linus receive a letter from the CIA...

Wednesday 6th April  
The next morning was like any other normal day. Charlie Brown and Sally woke up, got dressed, had breakfast, brushed their teeth, and started to watch TV. There were plenty of cartoons on, even if they were worse than they used to be, and they both sat on the sofa comfortably. When the next set of adverts came on, however, Mr Brown joined them and asked a favour.

“Hey, Charlie, could you go and check the mailbox for us, please?”

“Yes Dad.” He replied, getting up off of the sofa. He headed out the front door and then walked up to the mailbox and opened it. Inside was Mom’s weekly home improvement magazine, and two letters. He picked them up and walked back home. When he got back, he went back to the sofa and sat down.

“Anything today?” Mr Brown asked.

“Well, let’s see. We have a home magazine for Mom, a letter for me, and another letter for Sally.” He answered, handing out the mail to their respective owners. Charlie looked at the writing on the letter. It was addressed specifically to him, with the word PRIVATE stamped in the bottom right corner of the envelope. Perplexed, Charlie Brown flipped the envelope over, and looked at the back of it. On it was the official seal denoting that it was from the CIA. 

“I think we should read these alone.” Charlie Brown said quietly to his sister. Sally nodded back, and they both went to their separate rooms. Charlie Brown opened the letter and read it.

It read…   
____________________________________________________  
To Charlie Brown.

It has come to our attention that Yourself, Sally Brown, and Linus Van Pelt were uniquely of assistance during a recent investigation which led to the arrest of Mr Terence Elm. Your confidante, Morag, has stated in written communication to us that your actions helped to prevent a terrorist attack that could have taken countless lives.

For your contributions to the safety of citizens American and Foreign, we would like to invite the three of you to a private ceremony at 18:00, Wednesday 6th, at the Minnesota State office Building, near Fuller Avenue, in St Paul, MN. We look forward to seeing you there. Feel free to bring your parents to the ceremony.

Regards,

Godfrey Abraham, Domestic Level Operations, CIA

____________________________________________________  
Charlie Brown put down the Letter and folded it back into the envelope. He looked at Sally, as she did the same.

“Did your letter say the same thing mine did?” Charlie Brown asked. 

“Did yours mention a ceremony at 6pm this evening?” Sally asked in reply.

“Yep. It’s the same letter.” 

“I guess Linus has one too then.” Sally noted.

“We should probably tell Mom and Dad about this.” Charlie Brown said to her.

“Yeah, we should.” Sally replied. The two of them got up, and went back to the Living room, where Mr and Mrs Brown were treating themselves to coffee and biscuits. 

“Oh, hello, you two. We were just talking about those letters you received.” Mr Brown said.

“Oh yes. Would you like to know what they were about?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Absolutely.” Mrs Brown replied. Charlie Brown took the letter out of the envelope again and handed it to his father, whilst Sally handed hers to Mrs Brown. Sally and Charlie Brown could tell from the bewildered expressions on their parents faces that they would have a lot of explaining to do. 

When the Parents had finished reading, they looked up at their children in surprise.

“You weren’t kidding.” Mrs Brown said to Sally. Sally just smiled at that. 

“What’s this about a ceremony?” Mr Brown asked. “Oh, I see.” Mr Brown remarked, as he continued reading to the end of the letter.

“Well?” Mrs Brown asked. “Shall we go?”

“Yes, of course.” Mr Brown replied. Charlie Brown looked at each other and smiled, before they both went outside. 

“Be back by 5! We’ll be going then!” Mrs Brown called to them.

“We will!” Charlie Brown said in reply. 

When the two of them made it outside, they saw Linus walking alone, striding confidently, blanket nowhere to be seen. Charlie Brown and Sally walked up to him.

“Hey Linus.” 

“How are you doing, Charlie Brown?” Linus replied.

“I’m fine, thanks. Did you get any mail today?” Charlie Brown asked.

“Not as far as I know.” Linus answered.

“Have you checked?” Sally asked.

“No.” Linus responded. “I’ll do that in a moment.” Linus turned back towards his house, whilst Rerun ran past him in the opposite direction. 

“Oh hey Rerun. How have you been?” Sally asked.

“Uh, it was okay. I tried to do a bit of detective sleuthing, but with half of the neighbourhood gone, there really wasn’t much to investigate. Did you solve your case?”

“Yeah, I did. It ran a lot deeper than I thought it did, but we got the bad guys in the end.”

“That’s good to hear.” Rerun replied. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“So am I, Rerun. So am I.” Sally replied.

“See you soon!” Rerun waved as he walked past.

“See ya!” Sally replied. The day continued for them as any normal day in the neighbourhood. Lucy was hanging around at Schroeder’s house, whilst the older kids, such as Shermy and Violet, played football. Franklin and Pig-Pen were doing band practice, and Charlie Brown and Sally were busy retelling their adventures of the past week to Linus. Eudora was back at home, they’d heard, but nobody had seen here anywhere, which was understandable, given her recent family upheaval.

Eventually, the time came, in the late afternoon, when everyone went back home. It was almost 5pm, and Charlie Brown had both returned home, where Mr and Mrs Brown were waiting to go in the car. The four of them got in the car and drove off, followed closely by Linus and his mom, who left a minute later. 

The City Centre of St Paul wasn’t exactly far away, but both the Browns and the Van Pelts were hampered by the rush hour traffic, meaning that they only arrived at the Minnesota state offices with minutes to spare, and the lot of them signed in at the reception desk, except for the three. Once they made it to the offices, both families were led to the ceremony room, where they sat down. The room was rather small, with seats to fit 20 people and walls draped in blue. Paintings and noticeboards were hung on both sides of the room, which only made it feel smaller. There was also a back door opposite the door they had just entered. The Browns and the two Van Pelts took the front row of seats, and waited for the ceremony to begin.

The room became silent as a man, sharply dressed in a black suit and tie, walked onto the stage.

“Good Evening, all. Welcome to this special ceremony, held in honour of the brave young heroes who help to keep this country safe. I’m John Madison, and I will be presenting the awards tonight.” He began. 

“Now, those of you here will know by now the events that occurred, and how much of a threat Mr Elm was. Mr Elm was a man who had snuck under our radar, able to locate and steal a weapon that most of the world’s intelligence agencies denied ever existed. This weapon had the power to accurately target any building in the world and destroy it completely. It was only with the help of these three individuals, and a couple of others, that Mr Elm was able to be apprehended. I’d like to invite to the stage, Mr Charles Brown, Mr Linus Van Pelt, and Miss Sally Brown.” The three of them stood up and shook hands with Mr Madison, before he handed each of them a certificate. The three of them then made their way towards the back of the room, where Mr Abraham was standing. The four of them walked through the door, whilst Mr Madison took questions from the audience.

“Now, if you would like to ask me some questions, feel free to ask me now.” He began. 

“Where are they going?” Mrs Brown asked, pointing at her children.

“Oh, they’re going to sign in.” Madison replied.

“Was my child in danger?” Mrs Van Pelt asked. Mr Madison hesitated, and checked his briefing notes.

Meanwhile, in the meeting room, Charlie Brown, Sally and Linus had sat down along with Godfrey Abraham, who was quick to get the meeting underway. 

“Now, you may be wondering why we’re sitting here…” Mr Abraham began.

“I have a pretty good idea.” Sally interjected. 

“Go on then.” Mr Abraham said.

“This is about setting up a proper communications channel, I think. Morag said something about that before she left.” Sally explained.

“You’re close.” Godfrey Abraham. “I understand that the three of you already know about the existence of SPY, correct?”

“Yes.” The three of them replied.

“Yes, well Morag, who you all know already, put in a word at MI6 to get us to set up a proper communications infrastructure, with secure lines and everything that entails.” Mr Abraham explained. 

“That sounds like a good idea.” Linus replied. “Good communication is key to the success of any endeavour.” 

“Indeed. With me here I have some mobile devices, much like the one Sally has already, that can allow the both of you to communicate securely.” Mr Abraham continued, as he handed the phones to Charlie Brown and Linus.

“I also have something for you Sally. Morag sent it here specially.” He added, handing her a cardboard shoebox. Sally opened it and saw her gun. She thanked Mr Abraham and took it.

“You had a gun the whole time?” Charlie Brown asked his sister.

“Yes.” She replied bluntly.

“On Morag’s advice, we have set up a communications layer between her and you. However, we would like to take things one step further.”

“How so?” Charlie Brown asked.

“We, as the CIA, would like to give you the freedoms to assist Morag and her agency in person, should you so wish.”

“So we would be agents?” Linus asked.

“In a way, yes.” Mr Abraham replied.

“But we’d need oversight.” Sally pointed out.

“You would, and given the sensitive nature of this kind of work, we have agreed that the oversight, when needed, will be handled by the US and UK embassies. We call it the Bilateral Embassy Agency for Global Law Enforcement. Mr Abraham announced.

“B.E.A.G.L.E? Sounds good.” Charlie Brown commented.

“Alright then.” Mr Abraham got up from his chair. “Charlie Brown, Linus, if it doesn’t bother you, I’d like to put you up to the task of running BEAGLE. This would involve communicating between you and Morag’s organisation and gathering intelligence when necessary. Are you up to that kind of task?”

“Absolutely.” Linus replied.

“With pleasure.” Charlie Brown answered.

“It’s settled then. You can set the organisation up however you like and we will provide a budget according to your need. I know you three won’t be able to do all of this alone, so we recommend you get some of your friends to help.”

“Understood.” Linus.

“Oh, and, before you go, I have some things for you two. You may need them, if Morag calls upon you for a mission.” Mr Abraham fished out two more shoeboxes, each containing a 9mm Beretta 90-two. Charlie Brown and Linus took the guns quietly, along with the bullets and holster. The three of them hid away their guns so that they wouldn’t be seen and Mr Abraham promptly ended the meeting, and the three of them left the room. Upon returning to the ceremony room, they sat back down next to their parents.

“That was a long time for just a sign in sheet.” Mrs Brown complained.

“The sheet was all the way back in the foyer.” Sally lied, before turning to face the front. 

“Is there any more questions?” Mr Madison asked, smiling.

“No. Our questions have been answered, thank you sir.” Mrs Van Pelt said.

“In that case, I’d like to thank you all very much for coming and who knows, maybe we may meet again.” John Madison closed “Thank you and goodbye.” And he walked off the stage. Everyone got up from their seats and left the room, including the children, who had their certificates with them. The two agents waved them off, and the Browns and the Van Pelts went home. Once they were at home Mr and Mrs Brown cooked a hearty meal for the whole family. The parents asked questions that hadn’t been answered, and Charlie Brown and Sally answered them, sparing them any of the dangerous or grisly details, since they were better off not knowing. The family continued to eat until everyone was almost full, after which they all had ice cream. 

Once dinner was finished, Charlie Brown and Sally both got themselves ready for bed, before going back downstairs and watching a DVD on the sofa, with popcorn and hot cocoa. After that, it was well past their bedtime. Charlie Brown and Sally headed upstairs and into their beds, where they both drifted off asleep, ready for the next days ahead.

 

MORAG BOND WILL RETURN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for Reading.
> 
> Feel free to comment and give Feedback. I've had ideas for a sequel to this, but it isn't written yet, so it might be a while before it goes up here.
> 
> Let me know what you think!


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